$5,581
Alvan Clark 5-inch Refracting Telescope on Tripod, engraved on face-plate Alvan Clark & Sons, Cambridgeport, Mass. , 1884 , with 58-inch lg. brass tube, 15-inch lg. starfinder, rack-and-pinion focusing, and brass dust cap, in original green-painted crate with (over-painted) inscription on reversed lid From Alvan Clark & Sons, Cambridgeport. Mr. Charles H. Davis, Washington, New Jersey , (tube now painted white, edge chips on lens); ebonized tripod with altazimuth mount, lg. 82 in.; a converted drawer containing five brass eyepieces, a diagonal eyepiece, and an eyepiece extension tube; and an early 20th century photograph showing the same telescope on tripod, with a second telescope and a Model A Ford in the background. Note: Charles Henry Davis (1807 - 1887) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. His early career was spent as Midshipman and Passed Midshipman on the USS United States and USS Ontario . From 1846 - 1849, he worked with the United States Costal Survey on board USS Nantucket , where his successes included the discovery of a previously unknown shoal that had caused shipwrecks off the New York coast. During the Civil War, Davis was commander of the Mississippi Flotilla, engaged in the Battle of Memphis and the Battle of Vicksburg. The Congressional Directory lists Davis as Superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory (from 1865 - 67) at Georgetown Heights. Lens has multiple edge chips and a center chip.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2007-10-28
