Cornillot's Ascent at Seal: 1825

"Artistically speaking, one of the most beautifully rendered ballooning prints is Gouci's lithograph of this ascent at the village of Seal, near Sevenoaks in Kent, on August 23rd, 1825. 

The aeronaut was a Monsieur P. Cornillot, about whom almost nothing is known. The print carries the intriguing note that on this occasion, "Mr. P. Cornillot established the principle of sailing in an horizontal direction at any required point of elevation." Cornillot took up another Frenchman as passenger on this flight, a Monsieur T. R. Jolliffe. 

After making two further ascents from St. John's Wood farm-in June of 1826, Cornillot passes quietly from aerostatic history, leaving behind him this delightful record of his stay in this country."

C H Gibbs-Smith

One of 12 prints from the Collections of the Royal Aeronautical Society reproduced by the Society to mark its Centenary in 1966 - No. 8