29 Eaton Place. <1>
27 Feb. 1835
My dear Sir,
I merely write this to say that even when the roots of the equation you refer to <2> are imaginary, the solution to the problem is not illusory. There is an example of this kind in Legendre’s 3rd Supplement. <3>
Yours very truly
J. W. Lubbock
London February twenty eight 1835 Howard Elphinstone <4>
H. F. Talbot Esq
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham
<verso of address panel in another hand>
H. F. Talbot Esqr
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham
Notes:
1. London.
2. This was an equation from Abel’s theorem. See Doc. No: 03058.
3. Adrien Marie Legendre (1752–1833), Traité des fonctions elliptiques et des intégrals eulériennes avec des tables pour en faciliter le calcul numérique (Paris: Huzard Courcier, 1825–1828).
4. Sir Howard Elphinstone, 2nd Baronet (1804–1893) barrister and politician.