| A bank employee becomes bored with the restrictions of arithmetic and decides to let his mathematical computations enjoy the freedom of "modern" poets and artists. Although he loses his job at the bank, he find a following a neo-arithmeticians and fame writing modern verse.
The earliest publication I can find is in the New York Times in 1951. This story is more of a gibe against modern art and beatnik poetry than it is about mathematics. The author, Edward Plunkett, who published under his title as Lord Dunsany, must have written this towards the end of his life and it was republished in the collection Ghosts of the Heaviside Layer.
I received a copy of this story in an anonymous, manila envelope...but I can only assume that it was sent by Sandro Caparrini, who has a skill for finding gems like this. Thank you, Sandro!
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