Edwin A Abbott (1838-1926) was an English schoolmaster, theologian, and writer. He is best known for his novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, a satirical look at Victorian society. He was educated at the City of London School and St John's College, Cambridge, where he was a classical scholar and a mathematical coach. He was ordained in 1862 and served as headmaster of the City of London School from 1865 to 1889. He wrote a number of works on Christian apologetics, including his most famous work, The Shallowest of Shallow Thinkers (1882). He also wrote several books on mathematics, including A Manual of the Infinitesimal Calculus (1885). Abbott was a respected figure in the Victorian literary world and was a friend of Lewis Carroll and Alfred Lord Tennyson.