Beautiful example of an early Buff & Buff Saegmueller Solar transit, the original crinkle green finish on both the transit and attachment are in fantastic condition. The optics and 3 wire cross hairs are in great shape, the motions turn smoothly, this transit is probably the best condition example of a painted Buff & Buff Saegmueller Solar transit. It comes with its original box accessories and the original box.
Serial number 27341
Angular precision 1 Minute
Scope length 11 1/2 inches
Plate diameter 6 1/8 inches
Compass needle length 4 3/8 inches
Here is some information on the
firm of Buff & Buff:
Buff
& Buff
George
L. Buff and Christian Louis Berger went into business in Boston in 1871,
trading as Buff & Berger and manufacturing "all kinds of surveying,
astronomical, mathematical and philosophical instruments." The new firm
was remarkably successful, attracting numerous customers, and winning awards at
state and national exhibitions. Buff & Berger boasted two circular dividing
engines. The larger, of 3 feet diameter, had been built by John H. Temple of
Boston. The firm was dissolved in 1898, and succeeded by Buff & Buff and by
C. L. Berger & Sons.
On October 18, 1871, along with
George L. Buff, another German who he had met in England while working with
Cooke and Sons, Berger established his first business at No. 9 Province Court,
Boston. Housed in a single room and specializing in surveying, engineering,
mining and scientific instruments, the firm of Buff and Berger lasted until
1898. The company succeeded, expanding to occupy the whole building at No. 9
and most of the room at No. 7. It survived the Boston fire of 1872, but in the
end would not survive its founders' disagreement about how many and which of
the families' sons would be taken into the firm. It was originally agreed that
each side of the firm would send one son to Germany to be educated in the business.
George Buff had two sons—Karl and Louis. So did Louis Berger—William Albert and
Louis Hermann. William A. Berger and Karl Buff were chosen and attended the
Stuttgart factory of L. Tesdorph. The young Berger succeeded, as his original
certificate from the City Tradeschool of Stuttgart in 1893 attests, and
"did winter semester in 1893/94… studied trade drawing, and obtained…with
very good behavior and hard work, … good progress…" Unfortunately, the
Buff son did not develop as expected, so his brother Louis replaced him.
Further disagreements about the future of the sons led to an acrimonious
separation of the founders and the dissolution of the company in 1898.
There
followed, according to William Berger, endless legal wrangles regarding alleged
violations of patent rights and violation of a distinct clause that was
designed to prevent Buff from re-entering the instrument manufacturing business
for one year. Interpersonal conflicts continued through the litigation and
eventually led to contempt of court charges. Interestingly, the schism was
anticipated by Louis Berger as a few strictly-Berger-labelled instruments
appeared before Buff and Berger was officially dissolved. The rift was
irreversible, as was later reflected, for instance, in a 1922 volume of the
National Magazine, where, in a biography of C. L. Berger titled "Dean
of the World's Instrument Makers," there is no mention of either George
Buff or the firm Buff and Berger.
Most
Productive Period
Berger and
his two sons acquired the assets of Buff and Berger, including everything from
cash-on-hand through instrument stock to goodwill, and carried on the business
in Province Court until 1902, when they moved the operation to 37 Williams
Street in Roxbury. From then until 1922, the company made instruments for
civil, geodetic, geological and petroleum engineers and surveyors. They
diversified to produce special and unique instruments for scientists,
particularly astronomers. Again according to William Berger, they were also
involved in developing a ‘'technicolor camera projector" under the
direction of Kalmus Comstock and Hestcots, which later became Technicolor.
Equipped with a set of excellent dividing engines, this was arguably the most
productive and influential period for Berger Instruments, and led to its
association with academia and the publication of its unique and comprehensive
catalogues.
According
to a reported extract from the proceeding of the Meeting on Instruments of
Precision, before the Society of Arts at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in 1877, "There is no branch of mechanical arts which requires
more skill in the use of tools, more geometric knowledge, or greater patience,
than the construction of an automatic dividing engine." Berger inherited
two from Buff and Berger, one built by Jesse Ramsden in London, and another
made by William Wurdemann of Coast Survey fame, manufacturer of astronomical
and geodetic instruments, and a fast friend of Berger's.