Mr. Warner's youngest brother was a good husband and an industrious man, and would say that had he so much money, he could improve it to very great advantage; wherupon his eldest brother (Walter) did lett him sell his land, by which meanes he did so improve his estate by graseing, etc. that he became High Sheriff as aforesaid (quaere of the attorneys when). Dr. Pell has seen him, and spake with him.
Mr. Walter Warner made an Inverted Logarithmicall Table, i.e. whereas Briggs's table fills his margin with numbers encreasing by unites, and over-against them setts their logarithms, which because of incommensurability must needs <be> either abundant or deficient; Mr. Warner (like a dictionary of the Latine before the English) fills the margin with logarithmes encreasing by unites, and[1213] setts[C.] to every one of them so many continuall meane proportionalls between 1 and 10[1214], and they for the same reason must also have the last figure incompleat. These, after the death of Mr. Warner, came to the hands of Mr. Herbert Thorndyke, prebendary of Westminster, and by him left in the hands of Dr. Richard Busby, schoolmaster and prebendary of Westminster, which, before Mr. John Pell grew acquainted with Mr. Warner, were ten thousand, and at Mr. Warner's request were by Mr. Pell's hands, or direction, made a hundred thousand. The difference of the hands will shew the workman's in the originalls, which Dr. Busby haz.
[C.] Vide my letter with Mr. Hooke's response, 1690.
Memorandum:--he wrote a Treatise of Coynes in relation to mint affaires, of which Mr. John Collins haz a copie:--from Mr. Herbert Thorndyke.
The sixth booke of Optiques in Merçennus is expressly his; the 7th is Mr. Thomas Hobbs's.
Mr. Tovey, of Leicestershire, was his kinsman: he could tell when and where he dyed:--from Seth <Ward>, bishop of Sarum.
The bishop thinkes he was of Cambridge university, but is not certaine. Dr. Pell believes that he was of no university.
Quaere Dr. Pell, what is the use of those Inverted Logarithmes? for W. Warner would not doe such a thing in vaine. Mr. Tovey was fellowe of Christ College in Cambridge; was beneficed in Leicestershire; and maried a neice of Mr. Warner's; and from Mr. Tovey they[1215] came to Mr. Thorndyke.