26 Lincoln Inn Fields | 21st May 1855
My dear Sir,
I expect the profound Cayley,2 the Sagacious Latham3 and the Myriad-minded Buckle4 to dine with me on Monday next the 28th Inst at 7 o’clock will you do me the favor of enabling me to add the name of the acute and philosophic Tyndall to the list?5
Yours very truly | J J Sylvester
RI MS JT/1/S/290
Sylvester: James Joseph Sylvester (1814–97), a creative mathematician, had held posts at University College, London, and the University of Virginia and then worked as an actuary. Later in 1855 he was appointed professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
Cayley: Arthur Cayley (1821–95), an innovative mathematician and close friend of Sylvester’s, worked for many years as a lawyer, only gaining a professorship at Cambridge in 1860.
Latham: The physician Robert Gordon Latham (1812–88), who wrote several books on ethnology.
Buckle: Thomas Henry Buckle (1821–62), the author of History of Civilization in England. On May 9, 1855, Tyndall had met Buckle, whom he described as ‘no common man. We soon forgot the rest of the table and plunged into the philosophy of history’ (Journal: RI MS JT/2/13c/475).
add … Tyndall to the list: Due to headaches, Tyndall did not dine with Sylvester on 28 May (Journal: RI MS JT/2/13c/749).
Please cite as “Tyndall1088,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on