I Wrote:
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/guide.html might put you on the right track, but it only has new copyrights and transfers of copyright since 1978. also the interface BLOWS, even for telnet. forget about backspace, of course, but it does't even display you're typing. amazing. so no ^H^H^H^H^H for you. I did not find it. it might help, though, to know if "rouse ball" is his last name or "ball," also what the "w. w." stands for. (though I *thought* I tried all permutations.)
Walter William Rouse Ball : http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Ball.html0
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