7^ 1^ 



l-^ 

 ^^^ f-^^ 



Figure 6. — Henry Fitz, from a photograph in the 

 collections of the U.S. National Museum. {Smith- 

 sonian photo ^^^gf-b) 



Figure 8. — Advertisement of Henry Fitz, 

 about 1850. {Smithsonian photo 4^§g^-a) 



Figure 7. — Certificate of award to Henry 

 Fitz, Jr., by the American Institute, 

 1852, "For the best achromatic tele- 

 scope." {Smithsonian photo 4681^-a) 



New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New 

 Orleans, following the activities of the building 

 trades and trying by long hours and austere living 

 to save money for a locksmith shop of his own. For 

 the sake of both health and pocketbook, he never 

 rode if he could walk, neither drank nor smoked, 

 ate little meat, and lived chiefly on graham bread 

 and water. 



Evenings were spent in reading, study, and the 

 pursuit of hobbies, chief of which was astronomy. 

 His diaries and letters of this period show him buying 

 telescopes and lenses and carrying them with him 

 on his travels. He first made a telescope in 1838, 

 a reflector, with which he delighted to show the stars 

 and planets to his friends. The well-known Reverend 

 Clapp of New Orleans referred to him in a public 

 address as "the young locksmith who knew more 

 about the heavenly bodies than anyone else in the 

 United States." Henry was pleased with this 

 compliment, even while deprecating the enthusiasm 

 which prompted it. 



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166 



BULLETIN 228: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



