Interplay Between Mathematical Journals on Various Scales, 1850-1950

This paper is meant as an introduction to a special issue on circulating mathematics via journals, from ca 1850 to 1950. It intends to study the practices, actors, places and institutions involved in mathematical circulation. Journals constitute one of the main carriers of mathematical knowledge and hence the main vehicle for its circulation. The focus of the paper is on ‘mathematical’ (understood very broadly) journals and the various forms of interplay between them. In order to understand and analyse the processes of circulation that are an important feature of mathematical production, the interactions that take place between journals are considered across different scales, from local practices and representations to more global appraisals. We shall use the notion of circulation space in order to break down the representations of the mathematical world in terms of the centres and peripheries suggested by the geographical area, with its massive publishing centres at different times – Paris, London, Berlin, Leipzig, New York, etc. Besides the geographical dimensions, the focus is on connections between journals, polarisations, competition, rivalries, etc.