Figure i i . — Alvan Graham Clark. Courtesy Lick 

 Observatory. 



From the first, Clark lenses were probably equal to any ever made, 30 

 and undoubtedly better than those made by the only other serious and 

 contemporary American lens maker, Henry Fitz. 31 Fitz was immediately 

 successful, however, while Clark's talents were little appreciated until 

 William R. Dawes, the well-known British double-star observer, pub- 

 lished reports of the extraordinary performance of his lenses. Alvan Clark 

 himself attributed the increasing number of orders to Dawes 1 publicity. 

 Simon Newcomb may have been exaggerating, but he certainly expressed 

 a grain of truth when he wrote that had Alvan Clark "been a citizen 

 of any other civilized country, [hel would have found no difficulty in 



30 Simon Newcomb, Popular Astronomy (New York, 1878), p. 139. 



31 The Clarks refigured and greatly improved several large Fitz lenses. See 

 below, catalog of Clark instruments. 



I? 



