1885 Ballooning

Description

Fine Binding, Folding Plates, Illustrated, Leather Binding

The first edition of this work. With a folding wood engraved plate to the frontispiece. This work is an octavo. Collated, complete. This work looks at the history and science behind ballooning, which was, at the time this work was published, still a fairly new phenomena, with the first successful manned flight being by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783. The Montgolfier expedition is described in this work, as it was a monumental event. The century between the first manned flight and the publication of this event saw many milestones in the science of ballooning, including flying across the English Channel, achieved by Jean-Pierre Blanchard in 1785, the first aircraft disaster in 1785 in Tullamore, the first manned flight in America in 1793, and the first steerable balloon being flown in 1852 in Henri Giffard. This work shows the development of ballooning, and show how the public was fascinated by hot air ballooning in Victorian England. Written by Gustav May. From the library of the Irish international hot air balloonist Wilf Woollett. Prior owner's ink inscription to the recto to the front free endpaper, 'J. D. Tinline, 1909, No. 15. A'. The first edition of this interesting history of hot air balloons.