A	B	C
OCTANT (QUADRANT) SOLD BY BLISS & CREIGHTON Unknown maker, probably early to mid 1830's Note repairs on box lid.	SIGNED JOHN BLISS & CO. SEXTANT labeled "ENGLISH" on arc. Probably Heath but possibly Hughes.	HEATH SEXTANT SOLD BY JOHN BLISS & CO. Hezzanith endless screw sextant, originally made in 1920 for Christie & Wilson of Glasgow, sold second hand by Bliss; see bliss label on back of lid.
BLISS & CREIGHTON label in octant box. Partially covered by Duran & M.... label. Later label has address of 20 Burling Slip.		BLISS label in sextant box. The company moved to 84 Pearl St. in 1929.
Stepped box showing construction and many cracks. Box is very loose.	Figure from catalog	The Hezzanith sextant
Latches on side of box	Described in catalogs as: SEXTANT Edge Bar No. 347 ARC, Silver, divided to 10" to 150° TELESCOPES, Star, Inverting, and Blank. HANDLE, Polished Boxwood CASE, Square Mahogany, Cloth-lined, -$60.00 (click here for page image)

The Bliss & Creighton label inside the cover of the octant box may have an earlier label under it, so this may not have been sold originally by Bliss & Creighton. Although it doesn't show in the images, the B&C label gives addresses for Bliss & Creighton (probably their agents) in Boston (7 Congress St.), Philadelphia (136 Chestnut St.), and Baltimore (168 Baltimore St.). The box has had many repairs, and is barely holding together. The octant is typical of an early 19th century octant. It is made of ebony and brass with ivory scales, including a vernier scale. It has three sun shades, but no horizon shades, although there is a place for them to be installed. There is a second horizon mirror for taking back sights. Mirrors are present, but silvering is gone. Radius of the arc is 11.5". Ivory placque with maker's name is missing, as is the ivory pencil holder, but the ivory note pad on the back is present. Octant has a tangent screw & clamp.

The Bliss Sextant was probably made by Heath of London, but could possibly be by Hughes; the two companies' products were very similar. The ssextant is missing the horizon shades, swinging magnifier, part of the rising piece adjustment, and a screw and spring securing the tangent slide to the arm. The box and accessories are lost, as is the draw to the remaining telescope. Has tangent screw & clamp system, rather than endless tangent screw.

The Heath sextant has a "Hezzanith Observatory" certificate dated "9th June 1920" showing 0° error across its range. The certificate is for this sextant, SN # T39, 6.5" radius, divided on silver, showing 10". It is listed as having a 6x inverting scope, and 3x erect scope. The telescopes in the box are not original, but probably identical to the originals, since I got them from another Hezzanith of the same period. In addition to the telescopes, the box contains a sight tube & solar filter, and adusting pick, all original. The box is dirty, and there is a slight age crack in the lid. The lock has a key, and it works. The top of the box has a label for the Grace Line, with a captain's name that I can't make out. Mirrors need resilvering, but do work. Sextant is fully functional.

Text pictures copyright Norman Bliss 2002

Page created 6/23/02.

Modified 12/13/11