Mr. T. S. Davies on Geometry and Geometers. 519 



" The character you give me of a certain Bookseller is the same 

 which he has in this Country, and I would never have entered into 

 any bargain with him." (Letter, 19th Nov. 1762.) 



Most of my readers are more familiar, probably, with Sim- 

 son's Euclid than with his other writings (perhaps, indeed, 

 we all are) ; and no doubt many of them will have formed, 

 from the somewhat dogmatical tone of his "notes" on that 

 work, an opinion that Simson was an imperative and over- 

 bearing person. Nor does the character of him, as given by 

 Dr. Trail, tend altogether to remove this impression (Life, 

 p. 75-77). In his criticisms he speaks positively and empha- 

 tically, as was the stilted custom of didactic writers of the class 

 familiar to him, then to speak ; but a perusal of these letters 

 has convinced me, that even his severities upon the hypothe- 

 tical Theon himself, as the great perverter of Euclid's work, 

 were honestly uttered, and formed upon preceding models of 

 controversy. He, in several of these letters, invites " the cor- 

 rection of any errors he might have committed," and desires 

 to know the " views of the learned " on his performance. He 

 placed great confidence in Nourse's judgement, not only as a 

 man of business but as a geometer ; and some stray papers 

 in Nourse's hand, in my possession, show that the publisher 

 was himself a really superior geometer. 



Dr. Simson, anxious as he was to see his work brought into 

 general circulation, never adopted any means to gain for it 

 a spurious reputation or a forced sale ; but, on the contrary, 

 over and over charges Nourse, though he may "go to the 

 expense of 4 or 5£ for advertising in the newspapers " to 

 avoid all "puffing." "Be sure," says he (1st Nov. 1756), 

 " to put nothing like a puff into the advertisements which I 

 believe you like as little as I do : I fancy the Title will serve, 

 but if you shorten it, I shall not be against it, tho' I see not 

 how it can be much shorter." In a subsequent letter, he 

 thinks that some intimation of the "notes " should be added 

 to the advertisement. 



He was very solicitous to know what the " Reviews " said 

 about his work; and he says in a letter 23rd Jan. 1761 — 

 " Montucla gives me a good deal of amusement ; I am obliged 

 to him for mentioning me 4 or 5 times very discreetly." Other 

 passages show that though he was the very reverse of a vain 

 man, he was still sensible to the approbation of competent 

 judges, and alive to his own permanent reputation. Yet he 

 claimed no infallibility, and never paraded or vaunted his own 

 great powers. 



These letters contain a few mathematical criticisms well- 

 worthy of preservation. One passage occurs in the letter of 



