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The axiomatic deduction of the quadratic Hencky strain energy by Heinrich Hencky

The introduction of the quadratic Hencky strain energy based on the logarithmic strain tensor log V is a milestone in the development of nonlinear elasticity theory in the first half of the 20th century. Since the original manuscripts are written in German, they are not easily accessible today. However, we believe that the deductive approach taken by Hencky deserves to be rediscovered today. In this work we have gathered parts of the original contributions "Über die Form des Elastizitätsgesetzes bei ideal elastischen Stoffen", "Welche Umstände bedingen die Verfestigung bei der bildsamen Verformung von festen isotropen Körpern?" and "Das Superpositionsgesetz eines endlich deformierten relaxationsfähigen elastischen Kontinuums und seine Bedeutung für eine exakte Ableitung der Gleichungen für die zähe Flüssigkeit in der Eulerschen Form" which center around this deductive approach. We tried to provide, for the first time, a faithful translation into English. All footnotes are our addition.