In 1976 an announcement in the IUCr's journals stated that the book was "extremely popular" and this had a necessitated a reprint in both the Netherlands and the U.S.A. In an obituary of the author it is stated that the publication of the book helped to popularise M. C. Escher's work in the U.S.A. MacGillavry's book inspired further work on the symmetry analysis of M. C. Escher's work, particularly by Doris Schattschneider in M. C. Escher: Visions of Symmetry.