Editing Graph paper (section)

== History ==
The [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] owns a pattern book dated to around 1596 in which each page bears a grid [[woodblock printing|printed with a woodblock]]. The owner has used these grids to create block pictures in black and white and in colour.<ref>John Boardley, [https://ilovetypography.com/2019/07/27/the-first-fashion-books-renaissance-pixel-fonts-and-the-invention-of-graph-paper/ 'The first fashion books, Renaissance pixel fonts & the invention of graph paper'], ''I Love Typography'', 27 July 2019.</ref>

The first commercially published "coordinate paper" is usually attributed to a Dr. Buxton of England, who patented paper printed with a rectangular coordinate grid, in 1794.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/milestone/milestone.pdf |title=Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization |publisher=York University |first1=Michael |last1=Friendly |first2=Daniel J. |last2=Denis |page=13 |date=5 July 2006}}</ref> A century later, E. H. Moore, a distinguished mathematician at the University of Chicago, advocated usage of paper or [[exercise book]]s with "squared lines" by students of high schools and universities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://micromath.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/graphed-paper/ |title=Graphed Paper |work=Mathematics under the Microscope |first=Alexandre |last=Borovik |date=7 August 2008 |access-date=25 March 2017}}</ref> The 1906 edition of ''Algebra for Beginners'' by H. S. Hall and S. R. Knight included a strong statement that "the squared paper should be of good quality and accurately ruled to inches and tenths of an inch. Experience shows that anything on a smaller scale (such as 'millimeter' paper) is practically worthless in the hands of beginners."<ref name="pballew-graph">{{cite web |url= https://www.academia.edu/41452953|title= Notes on the History of Graph Paper|last= Ballew|first= Pat|date= January 2011|website= www.academia.edu|publisher= [[academia.edu]]|access-date= 8 June 2020}}</ref>

The term "graph paper" did not catch on quickly in American usage. ''A School Arithmetic'' (1919) by H. S. Hall and F. H. Stevens had a chapter on graphing with "squared paper". ''Analytic Geometry'' (1937) by W. A. Wilson and J. A. Tracey used the phrase "coordinate paper". The term "squared paper" remained in British usage for longer; for example it was used in ''Public School Arithmetic'' (2023) by W. M. Baker and A. A. Bourne published in London.<ref name="pballew-graph"/>