Black and white engraving of the Royal Vauxhall Balloon 1836.
"This tranquil and finely produced print of the balloon crossing the Rhine sets a fitting mood in which to record the greatest balloon flight of the century, a flight not to be excelled for trips out of England until 1907. For the voyage illustrated here started from Vauxhall Gardens in London at mid-day on November 7th, 1836, and ended early in the morning of November 8th, in a field some 8 miles from Weilburg, in the German Duchy of Nassau; a distance of 480 miles in 18 hours.
This great achievement was made possible by the generosity of a Member of Parliament (Robert Hollond), who flew as a passenger; Hollond took as fellow passenger Monck Mason (who wrote an entrancing account of the event); Hollond commissioned Charles Green, the most famous of Victorian balloonists, to pilot them in his Royal Vauxhall Balloon, which was, after this event, proudly renamed The Great Balloon of Nassau.
Built of 2,000 yards of crimson and white silk, the balloon performed perfectly, and was perfectly piloted; and the experience especially at night- must have been unforgettable: "we could scarcely avoid the impression", wrote Mason," that we were cleaving our way through an interminable mass of dark marble in which we were embedded, and which, solid a few inches before us, seemed to soften as we approached, in order to admit us still further within the precincts of its cold and dusky enclosure."
C H Gibbs-Smith
One of twelve prints published by the Royal Aeronautical Society to commemorate its centenary in 1966 - Number 11.
Artist:
unknown
Date:
7 November 1836
Donated by:
Renee Thornton
Image(s) credit:
The First Long-Distance Balloon Voyage (1836), Artist unknown, Royal Aeronautical Society, PDM 1.0
