Which does "themselves" qualify, "proofs" or "three theorems" in this sentence? (Michael Spivak "Calculus 3rd Edition")

Question

I am reading "Calculus 3rd Edition" by Michael Spivak.

There is the following sentence in this book:

The proofs of the three theorems themselves will not be given until the next chapter, for reasons which are explained at the end of this chapter.

Which does "themselves" qualify, "proofs" or "three theorems"?

Which is correct?:

"The proofs themselves will not be given until the next chapter"

or

"The proofs of (the three theorems themselves) will not be given until the next chapter"

Answer 1

It concerns “proofs”; this chapter contains the statements of the three theorems.

Answer 2

This is more of an English question than a math question. Regardless of what "themselves" point to, it is clear (at least to me) that what comes in the next chapter is the proof of the three theorems.

That being said, I think it makes more sense to let "themselves" qualify the theorems. I don't know this book and the context here. However, my guess is that there are these three theorems which are stated and used prolifically in other proofs in this chapter. But these three theorems themselves will have to be proven later.

As a test, consider the hypothetical that there is a single theorem with multiple proofs. I personally feel that "The proofs of the theorem itself will not be given until next chapter." reads better than "The proofs of the theorem themselves will not be given until next chapter." At least with my guess at what the context is like, detailed in the previous paragraph.

Answer 3

Even though the two other answers are contradictory, both are good because the formulation in the book is indeed ambiguous when taken out of context. I tend to think it refers to "proofs" because "themselves" seems to me like it indicates a disjunction from something stated earlier. It may be that the author writes a short intuitive explanation for the theorems before this statement and so aknowledges the reader that the proofs themselves will be given later. It's also possible that the author didn't state the theorems yet and is just about to. In this case, they first tell the reader that the proofs of the * theorems themselves * will not be given together with them.

Answer 4

Semantically it's surely referred to "proofs" (in the sense that it means that the proofs themselves will be et cetera). I would say grammatically as well, but I'm not British: perhaps the principle of proximity is stronger and it turns out to be formally referred to "theorems". You should ask on English.SE or something which ones are best among:

1. the doors of the wardrobe themselves, I will buy separately
2. the doors of the wardrobe itself, I will buy separately
3. the doors themselves of the wardrobe, I will buy separately
4. the stairs in the house themselves were made by my grandfather
5. the stairs in the house itself were made by my grandfather
6. the stairs themselves in the house were made by my grandfather