Trin Coll <1>
Saturday evening – October. 17th
My dear Father,
When I got here last night at about ˝ past 1 after a very fine day, I found no cab owing to my bed-maker having misunderstood my note & not sent it so I had to walk up. However his was as I had Gillespie for company this was not quite such a bore as if I had been alone. I went as far as Peterborough with Gibson Craig <2> it not being possible to go make Gillespie go first class. Craig went on to London, because he thought his rooms would not be ready. Gillespie & I had to wait some from ˝ past seven I think to about 2 minutes to 11 at Peterborough so we walked round the cathedral in the dark & admired it. then then we conversed on confocal conics, & I told him a good many of your theorems which pleased him very much, & as soon as we got back to the hotel he set to work to prove some of them analytically, & he proved that the minimum tangent was to an ellipse was that which touches in Fagnanis pt. <3> Then we both tried to prove the your proofs about the minimum tangent to an hyperbola, & finally which I had not proved, & finally just almost when we were going to start I proved it, by the help of your (diagonal proofs), used as a used as a lemma. I have today been reading some more things in your paper which I had not yet read, & found them very go good indeed. I dont know that there is anything further to say. We have had a glorious day today. I will give the parcel to Dr Worsley <4> on an early opportunity.
Love to all.
Your affect son
Charles H Talbot.
[envelope:]
H Fox Talbot Esq
Millburn Tower
nr. Edinburgh
Notes:
1. Trinity College, Cambridge
2. James Henry Gibson Craig (1841–1908), son of Sir William Gibson Craig (1797–1878). Student of Harrow 1855–1861. [See Doc. No: 08331].
3. ‘On Fagnani’s Theorem’ read 20 April 1863, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. 23, part 2, 1862–1863, pp. 285–298. [See Doc. No: 03011 and Doc. No: 08712].
4. Rev Thomas Worsley (1797–1885), theologian & Master of Downing College, Cambridge.