Editing Flatland

{{Short description|1884 novella by Edwin Abbott Abbott}}
{{About|the novella}}
{{Confuse|Flatworld{{!}}''Flatworld''}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
| image             = Houghton EC85 Ab264 884f - Flatland, cover.jpg
| caption           = The cover to ''Flatland'', first edition
| author            = [[Edwin A. Abbott]]
| illustrator       = Edwin A. Abbott
| cover_artist      = 
| country           = England
| genre             = [[Science fiction]]
| publisher         = [[Seeley, Service|Seeley & Co.]]
| release_date      = 1884
| oclc              = 2306280
| congress          = QA699
| wikisource        = Flatland
| pages             = 96
}}

'''''Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions''''' is a [[satire|satirical]] novella by the English [[schoolmaster]] [[Edwin Abbott Abbott]], first published in 1884 by [[Seeley, Service|Seeley & Co.]] of London. Written pseudonymously by "A Square",<!-- note no period after the "A", which is not an initial but the indefinite article | it is, however, capitalised in the original work, and also set in the same typeface, suggesting a play on an initial, sans period --><ref>{{cite book|author=Abbott, Edwin A. |date=1884|title=Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions|publisher= Dover Thrift Edition (1992 unabridged)|location= New York|page= ii}}</ref> the book used the fictional [[Plane (mathematics)|two-dimensional world]] of Flatland to comment on the hierarchy of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] culture, but the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of [[dimension]]s.<ref name="isbn0-465-01123-3 1"/>

A sequel, ''[[Sphereland]]'', was written by [[Dionys Burger]] in 1957. Several films have been based on ''Flatland'', including the feature film ''[[Flatland (2007 Ehlinger film)|Flatland]]'' (2007). Other efforts have been short or experimental films, including one narrated by [[Dudley Moore]] and the short films ''[[Flatland (2007 Johnson and Travis film)|Flatland: The Movie]]'' (2007) and ''[[Flatland 2: Sphereland]]'' (2012).<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/flatland-and-its-sequel-bring-math-higher-dimensions-silver-screen |work= [[Science News]] |title=Review of ''Flatland: The Movie'' and ''Flatland 2: Sphereland'' | first = Julie | last = Rehmeyer | date= July 29, 2013| access-date= June 10, 2018}}</ref>

== Plot ==
[[File:Houghton EC85 Ab264 884f - Flatland, men and women doors.jpg|thumb|Illustration of a simple house in Flatland.]]

The story describes a [[Plane (mathematics)|two-dimensional world]] inhabited by [[Shape|geometric figures]] (flatlanders<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flatlander, n. meanings, etymology and more {{!}} Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/flatlander_n?tab=factsheet&tl=true |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=www.oed.com}}</ref>); women are [[line segment]]s, while men are [[polygon]]s with various numbers of sides. The narrator is a [[square (geometry)|square]], a member of the [[caste]] of gentlemen and professionals, who guides the readers through some of the implications of life in two dimensions. The first half of the story goes through the practicalities of existing in a two-dimensional universe, as well as a history leading up to the year 1999 on the eve of the 3rd Millennium.

On New Year's Eve, the Square dreams of a visit to a [[one-dimensional space|one-dimensional world]], "Lineland", inhabited by men, who are lines, while the women are "lustrous points". These [[Point (geometry)|points]] and lines are unable to see the Square as anything other than a set of points on a line. Thus, the Square attempts to convince the realm's [[monarch]] of a second dimension but cannot do so. In the end, the monarch of Lineland tries to kill the Square rather than tolerate him any further.

Following this vision, the Square is visited by a [[sphere]]. Similar to the "points" in Lineland, he is unable to see the three-dimensional object as anything other than a [[circle]] (more precisely, a [[disk (mathematics)|disk]]). The Sphere then levitates up and down through Flatland, allowing the Square to see the circle expand and contract between [[great circle]] and small circles. The Sphere then tries further to convince the Square of the [[three-dimensional space|third dimension]] by dimensional analogies (a point becomes a line, a line becomes a square). The Square is still unable to comprehend the third dimension, so the Sphere resorts to deeds: he gives information about the "insides" of the house, moves a cup through the third dimension, and even goes inside the Square for a bit. Still unable to comprehend the third dimension, the Square is taken by the Sphere to the third dimension, Spaceland. This Sphere visits Flatland at the turn of each millennium to introduce a new [[apostle]] to the idea of a third dimension in the hope of eventually educating the population of Flatland. From the safety of Spaceland, they can oversee the leaders of Flatland, acknowledging the Sphere's existence and prescribing the silencing. After this [[proclamation]] is made, many witnesses are massacred or imprisoned (according to caste), including the Square's brother.

After the Square's mind is opened to new dimensions, he tries to convince the Sphere of the theoretical possibility of the existence of a [[four-dimensional space|fourth dimension]] and higher spatial dimensions. The Sphere at first scoffs at the idea of higher dimensions, just as the Square had done, showing that his comprehension is not as broad as he had thought. Still, the Sphere returns his student to Flatland in disgrace.

The Square then has a dream in which the Sphere revisits him, this time to introduce him to a [[zero-dimensional space]], Pointland, of whom the Point (sole inhabitant, monarch, and universe in one) perceives any communication as a thought originating in his own mind (cf. [[Solipsism]]):

{{quote|"You see," said my Teacher, "how little your words have done. So far as the Monarch understands them at all, he accepts them as his own{{spaced ndash}}for he cannot conceive of any other except himself{{spaced ndash}}and plumes himself upon the variety of ''Its Thought'' as an instance of creative Power. Let us leave this god of Pointland to the ignorant fruition of his omnipresence and omniscience: nothing that you or I can do can rescue him from his self-satisfaction."<ref>Abbott, Edwin A. (1884) [[wikisource:Flatland (first edition)/Other Worlds|Flatland]], ''Part II, § 20.—How the Sphere encouraged me in a Vision'', p 92</ref>
| the Sphere}}

[[File:Flatland (first edition) page 100.png|thumb|221x221px|The last sketch in the book.]]

The Square recognises the identity of the ignorance of the monarchs of Pointland and Lineland with his own (and the Sphere's) previous ignorance of the existence of higher dimensions. Once returned to Flatland, the Square cannot convince anyone of Spaceland's existence, especially after official [[decree]]s are announced that anyone preaching the existence of three dimensions will be imprisoned (or executed, depending on caste). For example, he tries to convince his relative of the third dimension but cannot move a square "upward," as opposed to forward or sideways. Eventually, the Square himself is imprisoned for just this reason, with only occasional contact with his brother, who is imprisoned in the same facility. He cannot convince his brother, even after all they have both seen. Seven years after being imprisoned, "A. Square" writes out the book ''Flatland'' as a [[memoir]], hoping to keep it as posterity for a future generation that can see beyond their two-dimensional existence.

==Social elements==
Men are portrayed as polygons whose [[social status]] is determined by their [[Regular polygon|regularity]] and the number of their sides, with a Circle considered the "perfect" shape. Women are lines, quite fragile but also dangerous, as they can disappear from view and possibly stab someone. To prevent this, they are required by law to sound a "peace-cry" while moving about and to use separate doors from men.

In the world of Flatland, classes are distinguished by the "Art of Hearing", the "Art of Feeling", and the "Art of Sight Recognition". Classes can be distinguished by the sound of one's voice, but the lower classes have more developed vocal organs, enabling them to feign the voice of a Polygon or even a Circle. Feeling, practised by the lower classes and women, determines the configuration of a person by feeling one of its [[Angle|angles]]. The "Art of Sight Recognition", practised by the upper classes, is aided by "Fog", which allows an observer to determine the depth of an object. With this, polygons with sharp angles relative to the observer will fade more rapidly than polygons with more gradual angles. Colour of any kind [[sumptuary law|was banned]] in Flatland after [[Isosceles triangle|Isosceles]] workers painted themselves to impersonate [[Nobility|noble]] Polygons. The Square describes these events, and the ensuing [[class conflict|class war]] at length.

The population of Flatland can "[[Evolution|evolve]]" through the "Law of Nature", which states: "a male child shall have one more side than his father, so that each generation shall rise (as a rule) one step in the scale of development and nobility. Thus the son of a Square is a [[Pentagon]], the son of a Pentagon, a [[Hexagon]]; and so on".

This rule is not the case when dealing with Isosceles Triangles (Soldiers and Workmen) with only two [[Congruence (geometry)|congruent]] sides. The smallest angle of an Isosceles Triangle gains 30 [[Minute and second of arc|arc minutes]] (half a [[Degree (angle)|degree]]) each generation. Additionally, the rule does not seem to apply to many-sided Polygons. For example, the sons of several hundred-sided Polygons will often develop 50 or more sides more than their parents. Furthermore, the angle of an Isosceles Triangle or the number of sides of a (regular) Polygon may be altered during life by deeds or [[Body modification|surgical adjustments]].

An [[equilateral triangle|Equilateral Triangle]] is a member of the [[Artisan|craftsman class]]. Squares and Pentagons are the "gentlemen" class, as doctors, lawyers, and other professions. Hexagons are the lowest rank of nobility, all the way up to (near) Circles, who make up the [[Priestly caste|priest class]]. The higher-order Polygons have much less of a chance of producing sons, preventing Flatland from being overcrowded with noblemen.

Apart from Isosceles Triangles, only regular Polygons are considered until chapter seven of the book when the issue of irregularity, or physical deformity is brought up. In a two-dimensional world, a regular polygon can be identified by a single angle and/or [[vertex (geometry)|vertex]]. To maintain [[Group cohesiveness|social cohesion]], irregularity is to be abhorred, with moral irregularity and criminality cited, "by some" (in the book), as inevitable additional deformities, a sentiment with which the Square concurs. If the error of deviation is above a stated amount, the irregular Polygon faces [[euthanasia]]; if below, he becomes the lowest rank of [[Civil service|civil servant]]. An irregular Polygon is not destroyed at birth, but allowed to develop to see if the irregularity can be "cured" or reduced. If the deformity remains, the irregular is "painlessly and mercifully consumed."<ref>{{citation|last=Abbott|first=Edwin A.|title=Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions|year=1952|place=New York|publisher=Dover|orig-year=1884|page=31|edition=6th|isbn=0-486-20001-9}}</ref>

==As social satire==
In ''Flatland'', Abbott describes a society rigidly divided into classes. Social ascent is the main aspiration of its inhabitants, apparently granted to everyone but strictly controlled by the top of the hierarchy. Freedom is despised and the laws are cruel. Innovators are imprisoned or suppressed. Members of lower classes who are intellectually valuable, and potential leaders of [[Riot|riots]], are either killed or promoted to the higher classes. Every attempt for change is considered dangerous and harmful. This world is not prepared to receive "revelations from another world". The satirical part is mainly concentrated in the first part of the book, "This World", which describes Flatland. The main points of interest are the Victorian concept of women's roles in the society and in the class-based hierarchy of men.<ref name="isbn0-465-01123-3 3">{{cite book |author=Stewart, Ian |title=The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |year=2008 |pages= xvii |isbn=978-0-465-01123-0 }}</ref> Abbott has been accused{{weasel inline|date=December 2023}}{{by whom|date=December 2023}} of [[misogyny]] due to his portrayal of women in ''Flatland''. In his Preface to the Second and Revised Edition, 1884, he answers such critics by emphasizing that the description of women was satirizing the viewpoints held, stating that the Square: {{quote|text=was writing as a Historian, he has identified himself (perhaps too closely) with the views generally adopted by Flatland and (as he has been informed) even by Spaceland, Historians; in whose pages (until very recent times) the destinies of Women and of the masses of mankind have seldom been deemed worthy of mention and never of careful consideration.}}

==Critical reception==
''Flatland'' did not have much success when published, although it was not entirely ignored.<ref name="Flatland Reviews">{{cite web |url=http://www.math.brown.edu/~banchoff/abbott/Flatland/Reviews/index.shtml |title=Flatland Reviews |access-date=2 April 2011}}</ref>  In the entry on Edwin Abbott in the ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'' for persons who died in the period of 1922 to 1930, ''Flatland'' was not even mentioned.<ref name="isbn0-465-01123-3 1">{{cite book |author=Stewart, Ian |title=The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |year=2008 |pages= xiii |isbn=978-0-465-01123-0 }}</ref>

The book was discovered again after [[Albert Einstein]]'s [[General relativity|general theory of relativity]] was published, which brought to prominence the concept of a fourth dimension. ''Flatland'' was mentioned in a letter by William Garnett entitled "Euclid, Newton and Einstein" published in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' on 12 February 1920. In this letter, Abbott is depicted, in a sense, as a prophet due to his intuition of the importance of ''time'' to explain certain phenomena:<ref name="isbn0-465-01123-3 4">{{cite book |author=Stewart, Ian |title=The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |url=https://archive.org/details/annotatedflatlan00stew |url-access=limited |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |year=2008 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/annotatedflatlan00stew/page/n41 11]|isbn=978-0-465-01123-0 }}</ref><ref name="urlFlatland Reviews">{{cite web |url=http://www.math.brown.edu/~banchoff/abbott/Flatland/Reviews/1920nature.shtml |title=Flatland Reviews – Nature, February 1920 |access-date=2 April 2011}}</ref>

{{quote|Some thirty or more years ago a little ''[[wiktionary:jeu d'esprit|jeu d'esprit]]'' was written by Dr. Edwin Abbott entitled ''Flatland''. At the time of its publication it did not attract as much attention as it deserved... If there is motion of our three-dimensional space relative to the fourth dimension, all the changes we experience and assign to the flow of time will be due simply to this movement, the whole of the future as well as the past always existing in the fourth dimension.}}

The ''[[Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography|Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' subsequently revised his biography to state that [Abbott] "is most remembered as the author of ''Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions''{{-"}}.

==Adaptations and parodies==
Numerous imitations or sequels to ''Flatland'' have been created. Examples include:

; Films and TV

* ''[[Flatland (1965 film)|Flatland]]'' (1965), an animated short film based on the novella, was directed by Eric Martin and based on an idea by [[John Hubley]].<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q123581640}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=DER Documentary: Flatland |url=http://www.der.org/films/flatland.html |access-date=11 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Flatland Animation: The project |url=http://flatlandanimation.blogspot.com/2011/05/project.html |access-date=11 October 2012}}</ref>
* ''[[Flatlandia (1982 film)|Flatlandia]]'' (1982), an Italian [[Stop motion|stop motion]] short film, directed by Michele Emmer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121289/|title= IMDB: Flatlandia|website= [[IMDb]]}}</ref>
* ''[[Flatland (2007 Ehlinger film)|Flatland]]'' (2007), a 95-minute animated independent feature film version directed by [[Ladd Ehlinger Jr.]], updates the satire from Victorian England to the modern-day United States.<ref name="flatlandthefilm">{{cite web | title=''Flatland the Film'' | url=http://www.flatlandthefilm.com | access-date=14 January 2007}}</ref>
* ''[[Flatland (2007 Johnson and Travis film)|Flatland: The Movie]]'' (2007), by Dano Johnson and Jeffrey Travis,<ref>{{cite web | title=''Flatland: The Movie'' | url=http://www.flatlandthemovie.com | access-date=14 January 2007}}</ref> is a 34-minute animated educational film.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814106/|title= IMDB Flatland: The Movie|website= [[IMDb]]}}</ref> Its sequel was ''[[Flatland 2: Sphereland]]'' (2012), inspired by the novel ''[[Sphereland]]'' by [[Dionys Burger]].<ref>{{cite web | title=''Flatland 2: Sphereland'' | url=http://www.spherelandthemovie.com }}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q123581639|title=Flatland 2: Sphereland}}</ref><ref>[http://geekdad.com/2013/06/flatland-and-sphereland/ GeekDad.com Review of Flatland: The Movie and Flatland 2: Sphereland]</ref>

; Literature

Books and short stories inspired by ''Flatland'' include:{{Cn|date=June 2020}}

* ''[[An Episode on Flatland: Or How a Plain Folk Discovered the Third Dimension]]'' by [[Charles Howard Hinton]] (1907)
* ''[[The Dot and the Line|The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics]]'' by [[Norton Juster]] (1963)
* ''[[Sphereland]]'' by [[Dionys Burger]] (1965)
* ''[[The Incredible Umbrella]]'' by [[Marvin Kaye]] (1980)
* "[[Message Found in a Copy of Flatland"|Message Found in a Copy of ''Flatland''"]] by [[Rudy Rucker]] (1983)
* ''[[The Planiverse]]'' by [[A. K. Dewdney]] (1984)
* ''[[Flatterland]]'' by [[Ian Stewart (mathematician)|Ian Stewart]] (2001)
* ''[[Spaceland (novel)|Spaceland]]'' by [[Rudy Rucker]] (2002)
* ''[[VAS: An Opera in Flatland]]'' (2002) by [[Steve Tomasula]], which uses the two-dimensional world to critique contemporary society<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Vanderborg|first1=Susan|title=Of 'Men and Mutations': The Art of Reproduction in Fatland|journal=Journal of Artistic Books|date=Fall 2008|issue=24|pages=4–11}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
* Physicists and science popularizers [[Carl Sagan]] and [[Stephen Hawking]] have both commented on and postulated about the effects of ''Flatland''. Sagan recreates the [[thought experiment]] as a set-up to discussing the possibilities of higher dimensions of the physical universe in both the [[Cosmos (Sagan book)|book]] and [[Cosmos: A Personal Voyage|television series ''Cosmos'']],<ref name=Sagan>{{cite book|last=Tremlin|first=Todd|title=Minds and Gods: The Cognitive Foundations of Religion|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=USA|isbn=978-0199739011|page=91|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLKvDNpSvBAC&pg=PA91}}</ref> whereas Hawking notes the peculiarity of life in two-dimensional space, as any inhabitants would necessarily be unable to digest their own food. (This concept is parodied in the below-described episode of ''Futurama''. The protagonists attempt to eat Flatland food but it falls out immediately. The native organisms in Flatland absorb food somewhat like [[amoeba]].)<ref name=Hawking>{{cite book|last=Gott|first=J. Richard|title=Time Travel in Einstein's Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel through Time|date=21 May 2001|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|location=USA|isbn=978-0395955635|page=[https://archive.org/details/timetravelineins00gott/page/61 61]|url=https://archive.org/details/timetravelineins00gott|url-access=registration|quote=a brief history of time flatland.}}</ref>
* In the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "[[The Loss]]", the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS ''Enterprise''-D]] becomes trapped within a field of two-dimensional lifeforms.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Loss |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708805/ |website=The Internet Movie Database |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref>
*''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume 2]]'', issue 3, in chapter 3 of the series of writings ''New Traveller's Almanac'', it is mentioned that in an unknown basement of [[New York (state)|New York]], Flatland was discovered by a mathematician.
* In the "[[2-D Blacktop]]" episode of the animated science fiction TV comedy series ''[[Futurama]]'' (season 10 episode 1, originally broadcast June 17, 2013), two spaceships moving at [[Relativistic speed|relativistic speeds]] crash head on and are compressed together into a flat disk. They meet natives of the realm, who chase after them when the concept of a third dimension is brought up.<ref>Nicholson, Max [https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/20/futurama-2-d-blacktop-review "Futurama: "2-D Blacktop" Review"] ''[[IGN]]''</ref>
* In [[David Foster Wallace]]'s novel ''[[Infinite Jest]]'' (1996), it is briefly mentioned that students from the Enfield Tennis Academy could be seen studying and highlighting copies of ''Flatland'' on the bus.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wallace|first=David Foster|title=Infinite Jest|publisher=Back Bay Books|year=2006|isbn=0316066524|pages=281}}</ref>
* ''Flatland'' features in ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' episode "The Psychic Vortex",<ref name="Psychic Vortex">{{cite news|last=VanDerWerff|first=Emily|title=The Big Bang Theory: "The Psychic Vortex"|url=https://www.avclub.com/the-big-bang-theory-the-psychic-vortex-1798164132|newspaper=A.V. Club|access-date=14 March 2014}}</ref> when [[Sheldon Cooper]] declares it one of his favourite imaginary places to visit.<ref name=Sheldon>{{cite web|title=Flatland Featured on The Big Bang Theory on CBS Television|url=http://www.giantscreencinema.com/News/tabid/70/ctl/ViewItem/mid/528/ItemId/730/Default.aspx?SkinSrc=/Portals/_default/Skins/NewSkinner/News&ContainerSrc=/Portals/_default/Containers/NewSkinner/Basic|publisher=Giant Screen Cinema Association|access-date=14 March 2014}}</ref>
* On the series ''[[The Orville]]'', episode "New Dimensions", after entering a region of two-dimensional space Captain Ed Mercer references Flatland and its theme of social hierarchy.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=New Dimensions |series=The Orville |series-link=The Orville |station=Fox |date=30 November 2017 |season=1 |number=11}}</ref>
* In the ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]'' episode "Straw", Clay Morrow is lounging on a cot in a private cell in county jail when he first meets retired [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshal]] Lee Toric. Morrow half-ignores Toric while keeping his eyes on a copy of ''Flatland''.
* In ''[[Gravity Falls]],'' it is implied by the main antagonist [[Bill Cipher]] that he originates from a dimension very similar to Flatland.
* In the [[Gravity Falls]] book titled "[[Book of Bill|The Book of Bill]]" a picture of Flatland's cover is shown on a TV screen on the chapter titled "My Story".
*The novel appears in the film ''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Valcarel |first1=Josh |title=9 Easter Eggs From the Bookshelf in Interstellar |url=https://www.wired.com/2014/11/interstellar-murphs-library/#x |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref>
*In the 1964 episode of [[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|Outer Limits]] “Behold Eck!” a 2-dimensional creature accidentally visits earth through a time-hole and causes some damage before it can get back home.

==See also==
* ''[[The Dot and the Line]]''
* [[Fourth dimension in literature]]
* ''[[Gödel, Escher, Bach]]''
* ''[[The Planiverse]]''
* [[Sphere-world]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.npr.org/2012/09/21/161551778/the-scifri-book-club-visits-flatland  "Sci-Fri Bookclub"]—recording of National Public Radio discussion of ''Flatland'', featuring mathematician Ian Stewart (21 September 2012)

=== Online and downloadable versions of the text ===
; eBooks
* [[wikisource:Flatland (first edition)|''Flatland, a Romance of Many Dimensions (first edition)'']] on Wikisource
* [[wikisource:Flatland (second edition)|''Flatland, a Romance of Many Dimensions (second edition)'']] on Wikisource
* {{gutenberg|no=97|name=Flatland}}
* {{FadedPage|id=20140519|name=Flatland}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/edwin-a-abbott/flatland}}
* [https://archive.org/details/flatlandromanceo00abbouoft ''Flatland''], digitised copy of the first edition from the [[Internet Archive]]
* [http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~banchoff/Flatland/ ''Flatland'' (Second Edition), Revised with original illustrations] (HTML format, one page)
* [http://xahlee.org/wordy/flatland/index.html ''Flatland'' (Fifth Edition), Revised, with original illustrations] ([[HTML]] format, one chapter per page)
* [https://github.com/Ivesvdf/flatland/blob/master/oneside_a4.pdf?raw=true ''Flatland'' (Fifth Edition), Revised, with original illustrations] ([[PDF]] format, all pages, with LaTeX source on [https://github.com/Ivesvdf/flatland GitHub])
* [http://manybooks.net/titles/abbottedetext95flat10a.html ''Flatland''] (illustrated version) on Manybooks
* {{OL work|id=OL118420W}}
* [https://openchapter.io/ydxlFmf/flatland-a-romance-of-many-dimensions ''Flatland''] on OpenChapter

; Recording
* {{Librivox book | title=Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions | author=Edwin Abbott Abbott}}

{{Flatland}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1884 British novels]]
[[Category:1884 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:British novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:British satirical novels]]
[[Category:British science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Dimension]]
[[Category:Fictional dimensions]]
[[Category:Novels about mathematics]]
[[Category:Novels about totalitarianism]]
[[Category:Science fiction novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Victorian novels]]
[[Category:Works published under a pseudonym]]