It has often been categorized as science fiction although it could more precisely be called 'mathematical fiction'. Ībbott also wrote educational textbooks, one being Via Latina: A First Latin Book which was published in 1880 and distributed around the world within the education system.Ībbott's best-known work is his 1884 novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions which describes a two-dimensional world and explores the nature of dimensions. He also wrote St Thomas of Canterbury, His Death and Miracles (1898), Johannine Vocabulary (1905), and Johannine Grammar (1906). More weighty contributions are the anonymous theological discussion The Kernel and the Husk (1886), Philomythus (1891), his book The Anglican Career of Cardinal Newman (1892), and his article 'The Gospels' in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, embodying a critical view which caused considerable stir in the English theological world. His theological writings include three anonymously published religious romances – Philochristus (1878), where he tried to raise interest in Gospels reading, Onesimus (1882), and Silanus the Christian (1908).

In 1885, he published a life of Francis Bacon. His Shakespearian Grammar (1870) is a permanent contribution to English philology. Abbott's open-minded inclinations in theology were prominent both in his educational views and in his books. He retired in 1889, and devoted himself to literary and theological pursuits. There, he oversaw the education of future Prime Minister H. Mortimer as headmaster of the City of London School in 1865, at the early age of 26. After holding masterships at King Edward's School, Birmingham, he succeeded G. In particular, he was 1st Smith's prizeman in 1861. He was born in London and educated at the City of London School and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he took the highest honours of his class in classics, mathematics and theology, and became a fellow of his college. Edwin Abbott Abbott FBA (20 December 1838 – 12 October 1926) was an English schoolmaster, theologian, and Anglican priest, best known as the author of the novella Flatland (1884).Įdwin Abbott Abbott was the eldest son of Edwin Abbott (1808–1882), headmaster of the Philological School, Marylebone, and his wife, Jane Abbott (1806–1882).

Edwin abbott's flatland