8-inch rear doublet for f/16.5 Boyden photographic telescope
Date: 1887
Inventory Number: 1996-1-0473
Classification: Lens
Subject:
Maker: Alvan Clark and Sons (1846 - 1958)
User: Solon I. Bailey (1854 - 1931)
User: William Henry Pickering (1858 - 1938)
User: Boyden Station, Arequipa (1891 - 1927)
User: Boyden Station, Bloemfontein (founded 1927)
User: Harvard College Observatory (founded 1839)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
City of Use:
Dimensions:
box: 9.3 x 27.4 x 29 cm (3 11/16 x 10 13/16 x 11 7/16 in.)
Description:
1996-1-0473 is a wooden storage box with a doublet lens consisting of crown- and flint-glass elements. These form an 8-inch lens for the rear end of the 8-inch Boyden photographic telescope.
The lens elements are wrapped up in a sleeve of cotton twill fabric that is flocked on the side facing the glass.
Surrounding the lens elements and cushioning them in the box was batting made of coarse, wiry, black animal hair with pieces of string and grass. This batting showed signs of bug infestation and was removed as a conservation measure once it was documented photographically.
The components of 1996-1-0473 are documented separately. They are:
1996-1-0473a: crown glass element
1996-1-0473b: flint glass element
1996-1-0473c: box
The lens elements are wrapped up in a sleeve of cotton twill fabric that is flocked on the side facing the glass.
Surrounding the lens elements and cushioning them in the box was batting made of coarse, wiry, black animal hair with pieces of string and grass. This batting showed signs of bug infestation and was removed as a conservation measure once it was documented photographically.
The components of 1996-1-0473 are documented separately. They are:
1996-1-0473a: crown glass element
1996-1-0473b: flint glass element
1996-1-0473c: box
In Collection(s)
Signedunsigned
Inscribedin white paint on top of box: No. 24
in black crayon on top of box: 10" [sic] Rear / Combination / Boyden / Doublet
printed on red label glued to underside of box: [illegible] A [illegible]XPRESS / [illegible] PANY. / [illegible] M
in black crayon on top of box: 10" [sic] Rear / Combination / Boyden / Doublet
printed on red label glued to underside of box: [illegible] A [illegible]XPRESS / [illegible] PANY. / [illegible] M
Historical AttributesThis is the rear doublet lens for an 8-inch photographic refractor paid for by the Boyden Fund. The lens is one of a pair of doublet lenses in the telescope, the other being the objective. In the nomenclature of the Harvard College Observatory, the 8-inch photographic telescope was known as the "8-inch Boyden Doublet" because it had two lenses. (In modern nomenclature, we might say that the photographic telescope [aka astrograph] had a camera lens consisting of two doublet lenses.)
The Boyden Fund was given to Harvard College Observatory in 1887. This instrument was made by Alvan Clark & Sons. The 8-inch Boyden telescope was held on the same mount as the 13-inch Boyden refractor also made by the Clarks. The 8-inch Boyden had a focal length of 11 feet.
The 8-inch Boyden photographic telescope was used to observe the total solar eclipse of 1 January 1889 in Willows, California. In 1890 they were shipped to Peru, where they were set up in Harvard's high-altitude observatory in Arequipa. This site was known as the Boyden Station. When the Boyden Station was relocated from Peru to South Africa in 1927, the 8-inch Boyden telescope may have accompanied the 13-inch Boyden refractor there. By 1929, it was listed as no longer in active use by Solon Bailey in his history of the Observatory.
After work in the field, the instrument was stored at the Agassiz Station. It was retrieved from there on May 20, 1969.
The Boyden Fund was given to Harvard College Observatory in 1887. This instrument was made by Alvan Clark & Sons. The 8-inch Boyden telescope was held on the same mount as the 13-inch Boyden refractor also made by the Clarks. The 8-inch Boyden had a focal length of 11 feet.
The 8-inch Boyden photographic telescope was used to observe the total solar eclipse of 1 January 1889 in Willows, California. In 1890 they were shipped to Peru, where they were set up in Harvard's high-altitude observatory in Arequipa. This site was known as the Boyden Station. When the Boyden Station was relocated from Peru to South Africa in 1927, the 8-inch Boyden telescope may have accompanied the 13-inch Boyden refractor there. By 1929, it was listed as no longer in active use by Solon Bailey in his history of the Observatory.
After work in the field, the instrument was stored at the Agassiz Station. It was retrieved from there on May 20, 1969.
Curatorial RemarksLens elements are currently stored separately in a drawer.
ProvenanceHarvard College Observatory, purchased 1887; gift to CHSI in 1969.
Published ReferencesDeborah Jean Warner and Robert B. Ariail, "Alvan Clark & Sons: Artists in Optics, 2nd ed. (Richmond: Willmann-Bell, 1995), 108, 204.
Bessie Zaban Jones and Lyle Gifford Boyd, The Harvard College Observatory (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1971).
