Draft letter from Newton to John Wallis concerning the publication of his 'Epistola posterior'
Sr
The amendments wch need be made are only these \I meet wth no other amendments wch need be made beside these wch follow./
pag. 368 lin. ult. pro 1665 lege 1666.
pag. 392 lin. ult. pro {illeg} lege
pag. 393 l. 2. pro lege .
The plague was in Cambridge in both ye years 1665 & 1666 but it was in yt year 1666 yt I was in ye Country. \absent from Cambridge & therefore I have set down an amendmt of ye year./ I wrote to you lately that I found ye method of converging series in the winter between ye years 1665 & 1666. For yt was ye earliest mention \of it/ I could find then amongst my papers. But meeting since wth the notes wch \in ye year 1664/ upon my first reading of Vieta's works Schooten's Miscelanies & yor Arithmetica Infinitorum \{illeg}/ I took out of those books (wch was done in ye year 1664) I & finding among these notes my deduction of ye these series \for the circle & Hyperbola & some other figures/ out of yours in yor Arithmetica Infinitorum for squaring ye circle & Hyperbola: I collect yt it was in ye year 1664 that I deduced these series out of yors for squaring \the circle/ these {illeg} figures with some others |Then is also among these notes Mercators series for squaring the Hyperbola found by ye same method wth {illeg} some others.| But I cannot find yt I understood ye invention of these series by division & extraction of roots or made any further progress in this business before the writer wch was between ye years 1665 & 1666. But in yt winter & yt spring following by ye use of Division & extraction of roots I brought that method to be general, & then the plague made me leave c|C|ambridge. But I do not think it requisite that you should make a particular mention of these things. I believe you have said enough in ye beginning of yor 91th Chapter.
In yor third Chapter you have given us a collation of the Arabic cyphers with ours both old & modern. The other day looking into Tave{illeg}|r|niere's travells into India pa lib. 1 pag {illeg}|2|3 I met wth ye cyphers now used all over India. They are these.
Our old \figures/ 2, 4 & 5 \& 8 (thus marked ɀ {sic} ﺡ)/ seem to be borrowed from these.
I communicated the Postscript of yor letter to or Vicechancellor together wth such other Papers as yor messenger shewed me. That His answer was that he had been so much pressed by the heads of Colleges upon several occasions to admit nothing of this kind without full evidence yt ye \{pe{illeg}|titi|oner}/ was \a true/ {illeg} object of charity, that \feared \some of/ ye Heads would be displeased if he {should}/ he could not give leave without better evidence then he had in this case \least he should meet wth a new check from ye Heads/. He exprest a great respect to yor letter & said that he lived within five miles of Sandwich & knew the hands of most of ye gentry there & had the case come recommended by some of them whome he could have confided in he would have admitted it, but for ye seale of ye corporation he represented that he knew they sometimes granted it upon too {sleight} occasions to get rid of troublesome people & therefore he could lay no great stress upon that. Nor did he think the heads of Colleges could be satisfied wthout better Testimonials. Mr Deeds he said he knew, but seemed to lay \no/ stress upon his testimony. I beleive he mistook the man, because I since heare there are more of that name. He desired that you should be \will/ satisfied about the business & so telling him that I would represent it to you I took my leave & giving yor Messenger ten shillings was fain to dismis him with this answer. Last summer when ye Vicechancellor stood to be or Burgess I voted against him & so have \can challenge/ no interest in him tho he is very fair & civil to me. My heart{illeg}y thanks for the sheets of your book I am very glad it is so near finishing. You have done or nation a great honour in putting so useful a work into Latin for ye perusal of foreigners.