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This is all fine with me.  I'm in for up to $50, with no expectation
of having any "rights" in the instrument, because of my reluctance to
go to $100.

One comment would be to have a skilled EBay bidder do the buying,
regardless of the ship to address.  Is Bill Morris adept at buying
things on EBay?

Fred Hebard

On Nov 14, 2008, at 12:16 PM, George Huxtable wrote:

>
> Bill Morris, as "Engineer", wrote, about the instrument we have been
> discussing-
>
> =================
>
> From: "engineer" 
> To: "NavList" 
> Sent: Friday, November 14, 2008 2:19 AM
> Subject: [NavList 6542] Re: Can someone identify this
>
>
>
> I'm interested in this item too and planned to bid on it. If I won the
> bidding, I would take it apart, service it and put it together again
> in a restored state. Then I would post detailed labelled photographs
> for others to see. When tired of it, I would offer it to a museum for
> what it cost me. I agree it would be a pity for it to rest in private
> hands, undescribed and gathering dust. On the other hand, why should
> North America have all the luck? People in out-of-the way places love
> instruments too.
>
> Bill.
>
> ====================
>
> Comment from George-
>
> Well, if Bill Morris were to succeed in a bid, that would meet most
> of my
> own wishes, and I suspect those of several other listmembers, for
> the future
> of this special instrument.
>
> It would be rescued from locking away in a hidden private
> collection; in the
> end it would end up in a public museum; and in the interim it would be
> examined for us by a real expert. The only snag is that of Bill's
> location,
> in a particularly isolated corner of New Zealand, which would,
> unfortunately, require long-distance transporting of the item, and
> put it
> out of range of personal inspection of anyone other than Bill.
>
> Perhaps it would help if I pass on some details about Bill Morris,
> who I've
> got to know quite well, by email, over recent months. Originally from
> Britain, for many years he has been a doctor in rural New Zealand,
> having
> retired now to an even more isolated spot, where he indulges in
> precision
> engineering, from a well-equipped workshop. Although not a navigator
> himself, he has a particular interest is in sextants, and he claims
> to have
> restored altogether 28 such instruments of a wide range of types,
> modern.and
> less-modern, not on a profit-making basis but as a hobby.
>
> He is presently finishing-off a book (intended for distribution by
> CD rather
> than print) on the "intimate anatomy of the sextant". I've come in
> because
> he has asked me to scan it for any obvious errors, so I have been
> privileged
> to see a preview. Looking at the care he devotes to detailed
> explanation and
> description, illustrated by well-angled and notated colour photos and
> diagrams, I would have no hesitation in entrusting to him this Fix
> Finder
> for a careful analysis, and hope that he would share his findings
> with us as
> he proceeds, before eventually passing it to a museum.
>
> So, if Bill is prepared to act on our behalf, as well as his own, in
> bidding, I restate my offer of sharing (to a maximum of $100) in
> the total
> cost, if his bid succeeds, to give him some encouragement. Other
> members
> have expressed similar sentiments. The more that join in, the
> higher the
> chance of his success, and the less the burden will become on each
> of us.
>
> One or two things need to be kept in mind here.
>
> There may well be a flurry of last-minute bids and the price may go
> well
> above its present $102.50. Indeed, the seller has set a reserve
> price, which
> we have no way of knowing, that has not yet been met.
>
> Although list members may contribute a "share" in the total cost,
> that would
> not be expected to result in any shared ownership of the item,
> which would
> become the sole property of the bidder. The whole operation would
> have to
> work on the basis of gentlemanly trust between all involved.
>
> If Bill Morris confirms his intention to bid on that basis, I would
> hope
> that other list members might show restraint in any bidding of
> their own.
> However, if any list member gets overcome by the lust to possess,
> perhaps he
> might inform Bill beforehand, and share his technical findings with us
> afterwards.
>
> George.
>
> For those that have yet to look up this item on ebay, it's at-
>
>
> http://cgi.ebay.ca/ASTRONOMIC-CALCULATOR-SEXTANT-
> theodolite_W0QQitemZ190265697439QQcmdZViewItem?
> hash=item190265697439&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215%7C66%
> 3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
>
> and to see the original 1950 patent, look up Google Patents 2,519,532.
>
> contact George Huxtable, now at george@hux.me.uk
> or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
> or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
>
>
>
> >



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