HENRY FITZ, AMERICAN TELESCOPE MAKER Journal of the Antique Telescope Society, Volume 6, Summer 1994 revised 1995, 2000 Peter Abrahams e-mail: telscope@europa.com Henry Fitz was preceded by the earliest American telescope makers, notably Amasa Holcomb, and followed by Alvan Clark, the most important maker from the United States. Fitz was the first important American telescope maker because his pioneering techniques of local correction of poor quality glass allowed him to construct the largest American made refractor on five different occasions. From 1840 to 1855, Fitz made forty percent of all telescopes sold in the U.S., and manufactured eighty percent of all astronomical telescopes made in the U.S. American made telescopes were much less expensive than those from Europe, and local manufacture was an important factor in the proliferation of observatories in Nineteenth Century America (from zero in 1820, to two hundred to three hundred by 1900.) (1) Fitz played an important role in the development of astronomical photography, and the creation of the first telescope specifically designed for photography was interrupted by his demise. His use of innovative optical designs is epitomized by his largest instrument, a sixteen inch dialytic telescope, with a singlet objective and a doublet corrector in the middle of the tube. Fitz’ self confidence is further shown by the extreme thinness of his flint elements, to one twentieth of an inch, in an attempt to minimize imperfections in the glass. This combination of mechanical ability and fearless inventiveness in a self-taught optician promised a spectacular career, that was cut short by his early death in 1863. Henry Fitz was born in 1808 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and from his youth was interested in science and mechanics. When fifteen years old, he made a telescope using a lens from a pair of eyeglasses.(2) By the 1830s, he was a locksmith and well-known as an amateur astronomer. Among his acquaintances was Alexander Wolcott, who was working on a speculum mirror for a Cassegrain reflector. Fitz acquired the half-finished blank and after a great deal of work completed it in 1837. More mirrors followed, and many nights were spent in observation of the stars and critique of the instruments. From August to November of 1839, Fitz was in Europe, educating himself on astronomical and photographic optics. He established the contacts for his future supplies of glass, learning that the French were the makers of the best quality glass (due to the glass tax in England that required a duty be paid with each melt of the multi-stage purification process for optical glass.) Opticians in England and Germany taught Fitz the techniques of sawing and grinding glass, from shapeless lumps to finished lenses. In France he learned the new Daguerrotype photographic process. The degree to which Fitz overcame the natural reticence of old world craftsmen to divulge their techniques is unknown, but he returned from the brief journey with increased skills and initiative.(3) Back in America, and in partnership with Wolcott, Fitz developed a patented Daguerrotype camera, with shorter exposure needs than earlier models, and in 1841 opened a successful photographic studio in Baltimore. This success allowed him to continue his experiments in optics and chemistry, and to marry Julia Ann Wells in June of 1844. Her memories, quoted by Lewis Rutherfurd,(4) include the making of doublet lenses, with the flint element ground from the bottom of a tumbler and the crown element made from plate glass. Working after the studio closed, often until two or three AM, Fitz finally succeeded in January of 1845 in finishing an achromatic lens of high quality. With this achievement, Fitz began making telescopes full time. He invented and built foot power machines for the grinding of lenses, and trained employees to do all tasks except the final polishing. Elisa Robinson was a female employee of Fitz in 1846, who was paid $3.50 a week, and the man running the rough grinding machine earned $1.00 a day. Robinson was memorialized in mannequin form in the exhibit displaying the original Fitz workshop (now in storage) at the U.S. National Museum of American History.(5) Fitz was secretive and did not train any employee in all the steps of telescope making, reserving the final figuring for himself. John Byrne was a Fitz apprentice who manufactured telescopes under his own name in the 1870s and 1880s,(6) and who probably taught himself how to finish a lens. Unfortunately, Fitz did not commit his methods to paper, for his achievements would be better understood if he had left a clear record. Fitz completed a six inch refractor for the American Institute Fair in October of 1845, and received a gold medal and notices in the press. He invited the public to view the stars and attracted a crowd so large that he had to suspend viewing until they dispersed. The problem was solved by charging 25 cents per spectator, gaining Fitz $33. in a week of operations.(7) In November of 1848, Fitz received an order for a six inch refractor to be used in an astronomical expedition to Chile by Lt. James Gillis, (who from 1837 to 1841 was in charge of the Depot that was to become the U.S. Naval Observatory.) Fitz made three, six inch objectives in five months, two of which proved to be of inferior glass. The third was tested against a Fraunhofer lens and judged equal to that high quality German import. In the patriotic fervor of antebellum America, this was an important achievement in the drive to be equal to and independent of Europe. During 1849, Fitz delivered a 5.6 inch telescope to Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. This is thought to be Fitz’ first observatory instrument, for which he received $1,050. The wooden tube has miraculously survived vandalism to the observatory, including bullet holes found in the dome. This telescope was restored by Antique Telescope Society member Robert Ariail and is now in working order.(8) Robert Van Arsdale owned a private observatory in Newark, New Jersey, and in 1849 or 1850 bought a Fitz comet seeker with an aperture of four to five inches. Within a year, he purchased a 6 3/8 inch Fitz mounted on an equatorial stand by Jacob Phelps of Troy, New York. Phelps provided the mounts for many Fitz telescopes. Van Arsdale was an avid comet hunter, a popular branch of amateur astronomy for which an altitude-azimuth mount was more appropriate.(9) In 1851, South Carolina College at Columbia, S.C., bought a 6 3/8 inch Fitz for $1,200. The telescope was in use for the next decade, but after the Civil War was stolen and broken up for scrap brass.(10) Haverford College in Pennsylvania purchased an eight inch refractor in 1852,(11) which was refigured by Alvan Clark and Sons in 1880. Fitz made a 9 3/4 inch refractor for West Point Academy in 1856. Costing $5,000, this telescope was 14 feet long and came with 13 eyepieces. In 1875, Alvan Clark and Sons refigured the objective. West Point transferred its astronomical instruments to the University of Texas sometime near 1910, and the Fitz was acquired by St. Mary’s College in San Antonio in 1952.(12) The history of the West Point Fitz is being assembled by ATS member James Gort, who is also restoring the original tube. For the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Fitz made a 12 1/4 inch telescope with a 17 foot focal length. Completed in December, 1857, this was the largest American-made telescope and the third largest refractor in the world, behind the 15 inch instruments at Harvard and Pulkowa Observatories. Delivered with seven negative (Huygens) and six positive (Ramsden) eyepieces, clock-work, and eyepiece micrometer, this telescope cost $6,000.(13) The original tube was of pine, with a mahogany veneer, but was replaced in 1907 by a steel tube. The clockwork was not powerful enough to provide an even motion, and was replaced at the same time, along with the manual slow motion controls and eyepiece holder. However, this instrument is probably the most important surviving Fitz telescope because it is the largest objective to escape refiguring by late Nineteenth century custodians. Several other 12 inch Fitz telescopes survive, but their objectives were re-ground and polished by Alvan Clark and Sons, to correct them to the higher standards of a later era. The University of Michigan Fitz has remained on its limestone pedestal for 138 years and is in working condition to this day.(14) In 1858, Fitz displayed a 6 3/8 inch telescope at the American Institute Fair, and with it showed fairgoers the impressive Donati’s Comet, until October, when the entire Fair was destroyed by fire.(15) The year 1861 saw the delivery of a 13 inch Fitz to Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh. This instrument cost $7,000 and was ornamented with strips of red and yellow brass. In 1872, the lens was stolen, held for ransom, and somewhat damaged before its rescue, when it was repaired and refigured by the Clarks.(16) The instrument was later rebuilt and remounted by John Brashear. The largest and most innovative Fitz telescope was completed in 1861, for William Vanduzee of Buffalo, New York. This was the largest telescope in America and had a single element 16 inch objective, with a smaller, two element corrector lens midway down the tube. This system was known as a dialitic telescope, easily confused with the dialytic optics that used liquid lens elements between glass, made in England in the 1830s.(17) The dialitic lens had been described in print since 1828, and was in part an attempt to overcome the ever-present difficulties with inferior glass. (Terminology and spelling are not consistent in the literature & one has to find the physical description to be certain of meaning.) This refractor was purchased by Vanduzee for the education of his two daughters. The telescope was moved to Lancaster, N.Y. in the 1870s, where the observatory was known to exist until before World War I. Nothing is known of the 16 inch Fitz after that time, nor of the quality of image formed by this interesting instrument.(18) Dudley Observatory in Albany, N.Y. bought a 13 inch Fitz on an equatorial mount in 1863. The fifteen foot tube was made of one inch strips of mahogany, beveled and glued to make a cylinder. When the Clarks were called to correct its optics in about 1877, they found that the extreme thinness of the flint element permitted only minor corrections.(19) The 12 1/2 inch telescope made for Vassar College in the 1860s was more thoroughly reground by the Clarks in 1868, who later repaired the telescope drive.(20) This instrument is now at the Smithsonian Institution. Another 12 inch Fitz, owned by New York banker Jacob Campbell, was also reworked by A. Clark and Sons, and now has a Clark name plate on a wooden tube that is likely a Fitz product. Wellesley College is the current owner of this Fitz.(21) The foregoing itemization of Fitz telescopes is based on the writings listed here as footnotes, which contain much contradictory material, anecdotal narratives, and tentative speculation. This is not a reflection of a lack of scholarship, but an inevitable outcome of the lack of reference material on the subject and the infancy of the field. There also may be errors in this research project. More productive than a dry relation of dates and instruments is an examination of Fitz’ personal relationships and of his artful techniques of telescope making. Elijah Burrit, famous for his star atlas, 'The Geography of the Heavens', declared in later editions of the companion volume to the atlas that he had been well acquainted with Fitz and used a “perfectly achromatic” six inch Fitz for most observations.(22) Maria Mitchell used a comet seeker of short focus by Fitz that still survives, with its original wooden tube, at the Maria Mitchell Observatory in Massachusetts.(23) Most important of Fitz’ acquaintances was Lewis Rutherfurd, a wealthy amateur astronomer, lawyer, and trustee of Columbia University. Immediately after Fitz’ first exhibit, at the 1845 Fair, Rutherfurd ordered a four inch telescope. In 1847 he bought a six inch, sold in 1856 to Earlham College in Indiana, where all the optics were stolen in 1870.(24) An article by Rutherfurd in the 'American Journal of Science' was highly complimentary of Fitz’ work and led to the purchase of the six inch used in the Gillis expedition to Chile in 1849.(25) A 9 inch with a 9 1/2 foot focal length was bought for $2,200 and placed in the Rutherfurd observatory on Eleventh Street at Second Avenue in New York City. This f12 telescope was short focus for its day, a design requirement imposed by the size of the observatory dome, and necessitated more color correction than a longer refractor.(26) Rutherfurd also bought a 5 3/4 inch Fitz, and an 11 inch Fitz collaboration. The two men together explored astronomical photography, where the lens must be corrected for the blue colors to which photographic plates are most sensitive. Each refinement in the correction of a photographic objective must be tested by taking a picture, and the lens was not completed until December of 1864, over one year after Fitz’ death.(27) Henry Fitz’ 16 year old son, Harry, assisted in the completion of this telescope and continued the business in a limited fashion for twenty years. The technical innovations achieved by Henry Fitz were in response to the low quality of the glass available in his lifetime. The denser flint glass was very difficult to manufacture without streaks, irregularities, and bubbles, and the crown glass was only slightly less prone to imperfections. Fitz used American and European glass, and tried making his own, but was forced to use fragile thin lens elements to minimize the imperfections. The dialitic design allowed the flint element to be a much smaller diameter and similarly minimized the effect of irregularities. Lenses ground from inhomogenous glass have pockets of denser glass that refract and disperse the light to a different degree than the rest of the lens, scattering the light and blurring the image. Fitz would grind and polish the lens to its designed profile and test it on a star, or an artificial star. His testing procedures could reputedly detect the thermal expansion produced by the touch of a finger on a cold lens.(28) When an imperfection was found in the assembled doublet, fine polishing was performed on a limited area of the outer element of crown glass. Alvan Clark’s innovations allowed him to correct all four lens surfaces. Both opticians would polish with rouge, using their fingertips as pads. Fitz was using the technique by 1845 or 1846, Clark dated his process from 1848, and Leon Foucault published an account of local polishing in 1858.(29) In 1861, 'Scientific American' printed an article on the Fitz business that discussed his practices, but not his polishing secrets. By then, he had machines for cutting lens blanks, grinding tools of iron, and special polishing machines. It was noted that a 16 inch lens blank cost Fitz $325.(30) An earlier practice of grinding the lens before sawing the circular blank, original to Fitz and designed to eliminate a turned-down edge, was replaced by the precise action of the machinery. The imperfections of Fitz’ techniques seemed obvious to those who decided to refigure almost all of his larger objectives. Testing procedures improved dramatically with time, and it is likely that the lenses needed the corrections they received. However, optical glass has always been very expensive, and it is possible that much of the reworking of large objectives was done because it was cheaper and easier to work on an old lens than acquire a new blank. Research techniques including interferometry and autocollimation could reveal the extent of Fitz’ ability to correct for the glass of his era. His inventiveness and productivity are already clear. In 1863, Fitz’ business was achieving some success. His son Harry was learning the craft, and plans were underway for a 24 inch refractor. He had a house built for his family nearby to Rutherfurd’s property and intended a trip to Europe at the end of the year. However, Henry Fitz died in late 1863, before these projects could begin. There are accounts that the cause of death was when a large chandelier fell from the ceiling of the new home onto Henry Fitz, but more reliable obituaries give 'consumption' as the cause of death, on October 31, 1863. Footnotes. 1. Sperling, Norman; Fair Play for Fitz: Henry Fitz Introduces the All- American Telescope. Rittenhouse, Vol. 3, #2, Feb. 1989. also: Bell, Trudy; In the Shadow of Giants: Forgotten Nineteenth Century American Telescope Makers and Their Crucial Role in Popular Astronomy. Griffith Observer, Sept. 1986 2. Lankford, John; In Search of Henry Fitz. Sky and Telescope, 9/84 3. Howell, Julia Fitz; Henry Fitz, 1808-1863. Holcomb, Fitz, and Peate: Three 19th Century American Telescope Makers. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 228, 1962 also: Sperling, 2/89, op. cit.; Lankford, op. cit. 4. Lankford, op. cit. 5. Warner, Deborah Jean; Elisa Robinson and Henry Fitz. Rittenhouse, vol. 1, #1, 11/86 6. Bell, op. cit. 7. Sperling 2/89, op. cit. 8. Briggs, John Wright; In Search of Neglected Telescopes. Sky and Telescope, 8/83 9. Sperling, Norman; When Comets Were Discovered From Newark. Sky and Telescope, 8/79 10. Sperling, Norman; Having Fitz: Searching For Old Refractors. Popular Astronomy, 12/75 11. Lankford, op. cit. 12. Gort, James; personal correspondance, 4/7/94 also: Loomis, Elias; An Introduction to Practical Astronomy. Harper, N.Y., 1855. pp.496-497 also: Sperling, 2/89, op. cit. 13. Loomis, op. cit., p496 14. Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Michigan, vol. 1, 1912. Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1912 15. Sperling, 2/89, op.cit. 16. Warner, Deborah Jean; Alvan Clark & Sons, Artists in Optics. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1968. p40. also: Lankford, op. cit. 17. King, Henry; The History of the Telescope. Charles Griffin & Co., London, 1955. pp189-191 18. Lankford, op. cit. also: Sperling, 12/75, op. cit. 19. Lankford, op. cit. also: Warner, op. cit., p58 20. Warner, op. cit., p104 21. Warner, op. cit., pp. 45 & 107 22. Burritt, Elijah; The Geography of the Heavens. Sheldon & Co., N.Y., 1874. pp317-318 23. Sperling 12/75, op. cit. 24. Sperling 12/75, op. cit. 25. Lankford, op. cit. 26. Loomis, op. cit., pp496-497 27. King, op. cit., pp290-291 also: Learner, Richard; Astronomy Through The Telescope. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., N.Y., 1981, pp88-89 28. Genzmer, George H.; Henry Fitz. Dictionary of American Biography, vol. 3, p433. Scribner’s, N.Y., 1959. Refers to the New York Tribune of Nov. 7, 1863. 29. Sperling, Norman; presentation at Riverside Telescope Maker’s Conference 1975, reviewed in Sky and Telescope, 10/75, pp256-259. also: Sperling 2/89, op. cit. also: Lankford, op. cit. also: Sperling 12/75, op. cit. 30. Lankford, op. cit.