of the
United
StatesNaval Observatory
eclipse party organizedby
Wil- liam Harkness. In cooperation with A.N.
Skinner,he
obtained sixphoto- graphsof thecorona,which were
describedas "atleastasextensiveand
as rich in detail asany
ever taken." 101They
used acamera
with a 6-inch apertureDallmeyer
lens,supportedon an
equatorialmount
piratedfrom an
instrumentmade by
the Clarksforthe1874
TransitofVenus.
102Tak-
ing these pictureswas
really atwo-man
operation. Clark guided thecamera and
insertedand removed
the sensitized plates; Skinner timed the exposurewith
asand
glassand
regulated the exposures via a blackwood
fan withwhich he
could cover the objectlens.103George
Clark de- clined invitations to join expeditionstoobserve theselattertwo
eclipses.104The
three Clarksworking
togethermade
photometrical experiments in1862-63
in aunique way.
105Their
results for the sunand moon were
not farfrom
acceptedmodern
values, but their stellar resultswere
less reliable.Where
others used awedge
or polar-100U.S. Coast Survey Report, 1870, p. 140.
101
Edward
S.Holden, "Astronomy," Annual Recordof Science and Industry (1878), p. 21.102 See below, description of Transit of Venus apparatus, in catalog of Clark instruments.
103 U.S. Naval Observatory Reports ofthe Total Solar Eclipses of July 29, i8j8, and January11, 1880,p. 51.
104John A. Brashear, "George Bassett Clark," Astronomy andAstrophysics, vol. 12 (1893), pp. 367-372-
105Alvan Clark.
"The
Sun a Small Star," Memoirs, American Academy of Arts andSciences, vol. 8 (1863), pp. 569-572. See also Alvan Clark,
"The
Sun and Stars Photometrically Compared," American Journal ofScience, vol. 36 (1863), pp. 76-82.33
izing
photometer
to reduce theapparent
brightness of the objectsunder
consideration, the Clarks used alens ofveryshort focal lengthtoenlarge the image.This
lenswas
placedbelow
the vertical shaft attheopen end
of their longunderground
testingchamber, and
received sunlightfrom
mirrorsand
totally-reflectingprisms.The
solarimage formed by
the lenswas viewed through
a smallholeinabrassstrip,atsuch
adistance thatitappeared
as bright as did another object at a specified distance.The
Clarks explained that the sun,
removed
to ten times itspresent distance,would appear
as bright as the solarimage
magnified ten diameters,and
that either of these
maneuvers would
causea
hundred-fold decrease in brightness.They
expressed their results for different objects in terms of thenumber
ofdiameter reductionsneeded
forcomparable
brightness. In otherwords
they found,forinstance,that themidday
sunis23.89magni-
tudesbrighterthan
Siriusand
13.01magnitudes
brighterthanthemoon;
they
saw
only 1.11magnitudes
of differencebetween
Siriusand Procyon and
only 0.14magnitudes
differencebetween
Castorand
Pollux.Edward
C. Pickeringlatertook
account
of thiswork when he
definedan
averagemagnitude
forthe sun.106The
Clarks' onlyknown
recorded spectroscopicobservationwas made by Alvan Graham
during a period of intensive auroral activity.On 24 October
1870, using a single-prism chemical spectroscope, he observed thespectrum
of the aurora borealisand marked
the position of four bright lines.Edward
C. Pickeringreduced
hismeasurements
towave
lengths
and
reportedthem
to the editors of Nature.101For
several years, while astronomerswere
seeking a consensus regarding the positions of auroral lines,Alvan Graham's measurements were
repeatedly cited; his measures, however, differ considerablyfrom
themodern
consensus.As
they got older,and
as their businessexpanded,
the Clarks hired othermen
todo
at least the preliminarywork on
the instruments.The most
valuableoftheir assistantswas
CarlAxel Robert Lundin,
108aSwed-
ish optician
and mechanician who
joinedthe Clarksas theirchiefinstru-ment maker
in 1874
attheageoftwenty-three.He remained
withthem
—
106
Edward
C. Pickering,"Dimensionsof theFixedStars,"Proc, AmericanAcademy of ArtsandSciences,vol. 16 (1880-1881), p.2.107
Edward
C. Pickering,"The
Spectrum of the Aurora," Nature, vol. 3 (1870), pp. 104-105.108"Carl Axel Robert Lundin,"Dictionary ofAmerican Biography
(New
York, 1933), vol. 11,pp. 505-506.and
with their successors,theAlvan
Clark& Sons
Corporation—
until hisdeath 41 years later.
The
Clarks quickly recognized his talents, taughthim
their methods,and
increasingly reliedon him
to finish their con-tracts. Itis, again,difficultto
know
theextent ofLundin's work,especially as heseems
tohave been
ofan
"exceedingly retiringand modest
dispo- sition." 109 AfterAlvan Graham's
death in 1897Lundin
took overcom-
plete responsibility for the instrument construction,
and
advertisements for the corporation singled outLundin
as the optical expert. In 1905,upon
completion ofan
18-inch objective forAmherst
College,Lundin
received
an honorary Master
ofArts degreefrom Amherst,
ashad Alvan
Clark half a century earlierOther
honors included amedal from
the1876
Centennial Exhibition, adiploma from
the1893 Columbian Ex-
position, fellowship in the
American
Association for theAdvancement
of Science, charter
membership
in theAmerican
Astronomical Society,and membership
in theSwedish
Society atHarvard.
The number
ofother workersinthe Clarkfactoryvaried withthe jobs at hand. In the fall of1873 Simon Newcomb
asked the Clarks not to diminishtheirwork
forceafterfinishingthe greatWashington
equatorial, astheywould
beneeded
to complete theTransit ofVenus
apparatuson
time.110Soon
thereafter the Clarkswere employing
a half-dozenhands
and,even
inthe busiest times,were
saidnottohave more
thantenworkers besides themselves.111Around
1881 the Clarkscomplained
that "all the instrumentmakers
are verybusy and
it is impossible to get all theworkmen we want."
112A few
years later a visitor to their factorymen-
tioned seeing four or five
French
opticians.113Alvan
Clark, Sr.,was
active in the business until just afew
years beforehis deathin 1887, at the age of eighty-three. Exactlyhow much work
hehad been
doingin the later years is unclear.One
account tellsthat his sons, after figuring
and
polishing a lens as best they could,brought
it tohim
for the finalexamination and
correction.114 In1884
109
W.
L.WattstoDavid Todd,2June 1905 (letterinTodd
papers,Yale Univer-sityArchives).
110Simon
Newcomb
to Alvan Clark&
Sons, 15 October 1873 (letter in U.S.Naval Observatory Papers, U.S.Archives).
111
An
occasionalcorrespondentoftheTribune,"Two
GiantTelescopes." op. cit.112Alvan Clark
&
Sons toEdward
S. Holden, 1 September 1881 (?) (letter inLickObservatoryArchives).
113John F. Sullivan,
"A
Visit toAlvan Clark,Jr.," op. cit., p. 389.114 English Mechanic, vol. 46 (1887-1888), p. 83.
35
Alvan
Clark sent a small object-glass toAmherst
College,which he
claimed tohave reworked by
hisown hands
entirely.115The
following yearEdward
S.Holden found him
"wonderfully well preserved"and
noted almost with surprise that he couldno
longerdo
optical work.116Although
he probablyhad
little todo
with the actual figuring of the Lickobjective,Alvan
Clarkwas
alertand
vigorousenough
toparticipate in the testing of it in thesummer
of 1886
! Charles A.Young
reported thatone
timewhen he was
inCambridgeport
Clark not onlyremained
presentduringthewhole
evening, but also"examined
everyobject,even when
the position requiredwas
such astocramp and
tryyounger
limbsand
muscles. His eyeseems
tohave
lost little of its original keenness,though
tremblinghands and
easy wearinessno
longer permithim
todo
much
actual labor." 117Around 1885
the "venerableoldman"
returned to his paint brushes,which he had
nottouched
for twenty-five years;he painted at least three large oil portraits
—
of histwo
sons,and
of hisonly grandson,
Alvan
Clark III.118George was much
lessrobustthan
hisfatherand
survivedhim by
only fouryears.As
early as1887 an
observerthought
thatAlvan Graham was
the responsible
and
activemember
of the firm, "if hismovements can
be calledby
that title." 119 In the fall of 1891 the brothers dissolved their partnership becauseGeorge
feltphysicallyunabletocontinueworking.120Alvan Graham
didmost
ofthework on
the Licklens; afterthatheseems tohave
merely supervised the construction of Clarklenses whileLundin
did the actualwork.Alvan Graham's
last project,in the springof 1897,was
toaccompany
the 4.0-inch lenstotheYerkesObservatory and
super- intend itsmounting
there.After the deathof
Alvan Graham,
theAlvan
Clark& Sons Company
continued, without
any
Clarks, for another sixty years.George
Clarkand
his sisterswere
childless;Alvan Graham's
only son died at the age115Alvan Clark to David Todd, 7 October 1884 (letter in
Todd
Papers, Yale University Archives).116
Edward
S. HoldentoRichardS. Floyd, 23June 1885 (letterin LickObserva tory Archives).117Charles A. Young,
"A
Look Through the Great Object-Glass, " The Popuar- Science News, vol. 20 (1886), p. 138.118Science,vol. 7 (1886), pp. 303-304.
119Charles
Plum
to the Lick Trust, 21May
1887 (letter in Lick Observatory Archives).120Publications, AstronomicalSocietyofthe Pacific, vol. 3(1891), p. 377.
of fourteen,
and
his daughters did notmarry
instrument makers.While Lundin was
active, thecompany made
several largeand
notable tele- scopes; later theywere
calledupon
for smallerinstruments for teachingand amateur
purposes. In1933
the Clarkconcernwas
taken overby
theSprague-Hathaway Mfg.
Co., ofWest
Somerville, Massachusetts.121 Eight years later the ClarkCompany announced
that the Perkin-Elmer Corporationwas
to act as consultants in connection withthe designand
construction of its optical systems.122 This assistance, however,was
notenough, and
the demise ofSprague-Hathaway,
in 1958, carried with itthe dissolution of
Alvan
Clark&
Sons.121 Popular Astronomy,vol.42 (1934),p. 608.
122See advertisements for Alvan Clark and Sons
Company
in Popular Astronomy, vol. 49 (1941).37
Part II
Catalog of Astronomical Instruments
Made and Remade by
Alvan Clark & Sons, i844-i8gy
This
catalog includes all Clark instrumentswhich have come
tomy
attention; omissions
—
theremay be a
greatmany —
are unintentional.The
purpose of the catalog is twofold. Primarily itshows
the extent towhich
astronomical observatories built during the 19th century, espe- cially inAmerica, were equipped
with at leastsome
apparatusfrom
the Clarkworkshop. The
second purpose of the catalog is to tellmore about
the Clarks, forstories pertaining to the various instruments often revealpersonalcharacteristicsaswellasthe professionalaccomplishments
of the makers.The
catalogis arranged alphabeticallyby name
of instrument owners,both
private personsand
institutions; instrumentswhich had
severalowners
are cross-referenced. Instruments of all sizes,and
accessories as well asmajor
telescopes, are included in the catalog. Inmany
cases the smallerand more
obscureinstruments, simplybecause of their obscurity, are described in greaterdetailthan
the betterknown
ones.Mrs. Edwin
A.Abbey owned
a 5-inch aperture refracting telescopemounted on
atripod, the lens ofwhich was
reputed tohave been made by Alvan
Clark himself in 1871. Mrs.Abbey,
neeMary Gertrude Mead, was
a Vassar graduateand undoubtedly
a student ofMaria
Mitchell, asMiss
Mitchell placed the order for the telescope. This instrument isnow
at theMaria
MitchellObservatory
(q.v.).1In
1873 Abbot Academy,
a girls' school inAndover,
Massachusetts,1
From
private correspondence with DorritHoffleit of the MariaMitchell Asso- ciation.39
purchased
a 71/2-inch equatorial refractorfrom
the Clarks for$1150.
Owing
to their limitedbudget
theyhad
to choosebetween graduated
circles
and
a driving clock—
either ofwhich
costan
additional $500.2 Apparently, theyfound money
forboth.In
1888 Albion College,
inAlbion,Michigan,
builtan
astronomical observatory for the use of its students.The equipment
includedan
8- inch aperture Clark refractorwhich was
equatoriallymounted and
pro- vided with driving clock, divided circles,and
filar micrometer.3By 1866
the Clarkshad
suppliedAllegheny College,
in Meadville, Pennsylvania, with a 7-inch refracting telescope which, although equa- toriallymounted, was
notequipped
witheithergraduated
circlesorclock drive.4Allegheny Observatory
of the University of Pittsburgh used the Clarks' services during the 1870's; thereafter they reliedon
the localand
talentedJohn
A. Brashear.The
13-inch Fitz lens of theAllegheny
equatorialwas
stolenand
slightlydamaged
in 1872. After its recovery the Clarks refigured it,making
it, in terms typically used to describe Clark lenses,'Tun
des meilleurs objectifsde
cettedimension que Ton
connaisse."5
They
alsomade
a 4-inchphotographiccorrecting lenswhich was
used in conjunction with the 13-inch.Samuel
Pierpont Langley, then doing solarphysics at Allegheny,was
using spectroscopic apparatus tooheavy
to be easilymoved;
to convert the equatorial into a heliostat the Clarksmade
a 12-inch diametersilvered planemirror.*3Other
Clark instruments at Allegheny included a 3-inch objective lens7and
a rocksaltprismidentifiedas
having been
figuredby George
Clark.sThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in Bostonowned
2
Mary
Delcher of AbbotAcademy
to Maria Mitchell, 2 April 1872 (letter in libraryofMariaMitchell Association).3 TearBookofAlbionCollegefor i888-8g,p. 138.
4EliasLoomis, Practical Astronomy
(New
York, 1866), 7thed.,pp. 496-497.5 Charles Andre and A. Angot,
V
Astronomiepratique et les observatoires en EuropeetenAmerique. Part3: Etats-Unisd'Amerique (Paris, 1877), p. 126.
6
Edward
S. Holden, "Astronomy," Annual Recordof Science andIndustry (1877), p. 38.7Alvan Clark
&
Sons to Samuel P.Langley, 5November
1900(letter in Smith- sonianInstitutionArchives).8John A. Brashear,
"A
PracticalMethod
of WorkingRock
Salt Surfaces for Optical Purposes," Proceedings, American Association for the Advancement of Science, vol. 34 (1885),p. 76.-'/ CA..
W.5.
•fef'f'
r
V
WRCCTOR
Figure 12.
—
Cambridge, Massachusetts, showing the location of theAlvan
Clark&
Sons establishment along the Charles River (circle at lower right). Prospect Street (circle at center right),where
the Clarks livedfrom
1836 to i860, is also indicated. Courtesy Library of Congress.several pieces ofscientific apparatus
and made them
availabletoscholarsfor research purposes.
One
of these instrumentswas
aClark-made
micrometer-levelwhich
incorporated a telescope of 4 centimeters aper- ture, supported in Y'sand moved by
a verticalmicrometer
screw."8"List ofApparatusRelatingtoHeat,Light, Electricity, Magnetism,andSound, Available for Scientific Researches Involving Accurate Measurements," Annual Report . . . SmithsonianInstitution . . . 1878, p. 430.
41
The American Association of Variable Star Observers
is the presentowner
ofthe 4-inch Clarktelescope originallyowned by William
Tyler Olcott (q.v.).According
toWalter
ScottHouston,
the present user of the telescope,on
agood
night it willshow
stars of fourteenthmagnitude.
Amherst College,
in Massachusetts, installed a Clark telescope of7*4
inchesaperture in 1854.10Thistelescope, asDavid Todd
noted,was
probably the firstcomplete
equatorial builtand
soldby
the Clarks.11Moreover,
itwas
very likely the first telescope ever provided with a clock drive regulatedby
aBond
spring-governor.The graduated
circles, 12 inches in diameter,were
readby
verniers—
the right ascension to 2 seconds of time,and
the declination to30
secondsof arc.The
total cost ofthetelescopewas
$1800. In appreciationforhiswork on
thistelescope,and
for his discovery oftwo new
double stars while testing it,Amherst gave Alvan
Clarkan honorary
masters degreein 1854.Thirty years later
Alvan
Clark refigured the objective of Amherst's, old transit instrumentand
claimed that hehad done
thework "by my own hands
entirely." 12This must have been one
of the last pieces ofoptical
work
forwhich he was
responsible.As mentioned above
(p. 000), Carl A. R.Lundin
oftheAlvan
Clark& Sons
Corporationfigured the 18-inchobject-glassforAmherst and was
givenan honorary
masters degreein 1905.Antioch College,
inYellow
Springs,Ohio,
althoughwithout an
observatory, in
1878
reportedhaving
a "verygood"
Clark refracting telescope of 4.94 inches aperture, equatoriallymounted on
a tripod.13 Several times during the latter half of the 19th century listswere compiled
ofAmerican
astronomers, observatories,and
telescopes. Al-though most
of the instruments listedcan be
verified elsewhere, afew
cannot. In1877 Bates College,
in Lewiston,Maine, was
reputed to10EliasLoomis,Recent Progress ofAstronomy
(New
York, 1856), pp. 264. 391.11David Todd, "Early History of Astronomy at Amherst College," Popular Astronomy, vol. 11 (1903), p. 324.
12Alvan Clark to David Todd, 7 October 1884 (letter in
Todd
Papers, Yale University Archives).13
Edward
S. Holden, "Astronomy," Annual Recordof Science andIndustry (1878), p. 76.have
a Clark refractor of 6J/4 inches aperture; 14 astronomers at Bates College today, however,have no knowledge
of this instrument.15The
reference is very likely to the telescope Oliver C.
Wendell
(q.v.)had
recently acquired
and which he had
not yet installed in his private observatory.R. R.
Beard
of Pella, Iowa,was
abanker
withan amateur
interest in astronomy.By 1887 he had
acquired a Clark6^
-inch aperture equa- torialrefractor16which, in 1904,he donated
tothelocalCentral College(q.v.).
The
firstastronomicaltelescopebuiltby Warner & Swasey was
erected atBeloit College
in Wisconsin in 1882. This equatorialmount was
designed to hold a9/2
-inch Clark objective.17 In 19 16 the Clark lenswas remounted by Warner & Swasey;
this telescoperemained
at Beloit until 1967,when
itwas
sold toDave Garroway
(q.v.).The
originalWarner & Swasey mount
isintheSmithsonian
Institution (q.v.) .By 1888
F. G.Blinn
of EastOakland,
California,had
a 5-inch Clark achromatic refractor, equatoriallymounted,
with circles, slow motion,and an
effectivebattery of eyepieces.18On Bonner's Hill,
just outside the city ofQuebec,
the provincialgovernment
erectedan
astronomical observatoryin 1864,mainly
for the purpose of accurate timekeeping.19The
noveland
convenient arrange-ment
forashutterovertheslitof thedome was
suggestedtoCommander
E. D. Ashe, R.N.,
by Alvan
Clark,who
used canvasstretchedbetween
deal rods.These
rods,which were
fixed withhooks
at the top,were
springyenough
toholdthe canvasclose against thedome. Ashe
replaced thecanvas with athin dealboard and was
very pleased withthe results.The
originalequipment
of the observatory includedan
8-inch Clark equatorial, of 9-feet focal length. After the demise of the Bonner's Hill observatory,in 1874, tne Clarktelescopewas
placed inthenew
observa-14"Size of the Principal Telescopesin theWorld,"PopularScienceMonthly,vol. 10 (1876-1877), p. 576.
15
From
private correspondence with Karl S. Woodcock, Emeritus Professor of Physics and AstronomyatBates College.16SiderealMessenger, vol. 6 (1887),p. 78.
17 Ibid., vol. 1 (1882),p.200.
18
Edward
S. Holden, HandbookojtheLick Observatory(SanFrancisco, 1888),p. 122.19E. D. Ashe, "Description of theObservatory, Bonner's Hill, Quebec," Monthly
Notices, RoyalAstronomicalSociety, vol. 25 (1864-1865), p. 29.
284-281
O—68
4 43Figure
13.— Alvan
Clark&
Sonsfactory.The
telescopemount and
tube in the foreground were used for testing objective lenses.From
coverof ScientificAmerican, 24September
1887.tory in the Battlefield Park.
When
that observatorywas
demolished, in 1935, the telescopewas
given to the College des Jesuites (q.v.) inQuebec, where
it is still being used.20Toward
theend
of the century theequipment
of theBoston Uni- versity
observatory included a 5-inch Clark refractor, equatoriallymounted on
atripod.21Roland
B.Bourne
ofWest
Hartford, Connecticut, is the presentowner and
user of the finder scope of the 9.4-inch Clark equatorial re-20
From
private correspondence with Bernard Weilbrenner, Quebec Provincial Archivist.21 Boston University Yearbook (1905), p. 71.
fractor previously
owned by D. W. Edgecomb and
Charles P.Howard
(qq.v.).
According
toBourne
this 2-inch aperture instrument resolves well within theDawes
limit,and
its surfaces are accurate toabout
1/20 ofa wavelength.The
Clark lenses retained their value formany
years,and
a used lenswas
often as highlyprized as anew
one. In1856 Frederick
Brodie, inEngland,
replaced his 65/3-inchMunich
refractorwith a Clarkobjective of 71/) inches aperture.1" Thiswas
the first lenswhich
Clarkhad
sold toDawes
(q.v.); in1873
itwas
installed inthe privateobservatoryofWent- worth Erck
(q.v.).Addison Brown, amateur
astronomer, used his 4-inch Clark refrac- tor,mounted on
atripod,toview
the totalsolareclipseof 1878.23One
of the last large instrumentsmade
completelyby
the Clarkswas
the 10-inch equatorial at
Bucknell College
in Lewisburg, Pennsyl- vania.24 This instrument, installed in 1887, is still in use.25 Itwas
pro- vided with 5common
eyepieces, a polarizing eyepiece for solar observa- tions, a micrometer,and
a 2/2-inch finder.The
right ascensionand
declination circleswere
read with small telescopes.The
observer could regulate the driving clock— which was changed
only afew
yearsago
—
at will
and move
the telescopewith handles withoutleaving the eyepiece.The most
productiveand famous
small Clark telescopewas
the 6-inch refractormade
forSherburne Wesley Burnham
in 1870.With
this instrumentBurnham began
his studyof the heavensand
discoveredsev- eralhundred
doublestars,many
ofwhich had been
missedby more
prac- ticed astronomers withmuch
larger telescopes.26 In 1881 this 6-inchwas mounted
in the Students' Observatory at the University of Wisconsin(q.v.).
Jacob Campbell,
aNew York
City banker,owned
a 12-inch equa- torial refractormade by Henry
Fitz.As
they did with somany
of the22 Frederick Brodie, "Notes on the Manufacture of Tubes for Refracting Tele- scopes,"MonthlyNotices,RoyalAstronomicalSociety,vol. 17(1856-1857), p. 33.
23 U.S. Naval Observatory Reports of the Total Solar Eclipses ofJuly 2g, 1878, and January11, 1880 (Washington,D.C., 1880),p. 142.
24
W.
C. Bartol,"The
Observatory's Equipment," The University Mirror(May
1887), pp. 100-101.
25
From
private correspondence with Robert R. Gross, Bucknell University Archivist.29Letterfrom S.
W.
Burnham, English Mechanic,vol. 13 (1871), pp. 488-489.45