1784 1st Edtn Signed by Author(s) AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST AËRIAL VOYAGE IN ENGLAND By Lunardi Vincent Very Good

1784 1st Edition , 
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST AËRIAL VOYAGE IN ENGLAND
in a series of letters to his Guardian Chevalier Gherardo Compagni
By Lunardi Vincent
Vincenzo Lunardi (11 January 1754 in Lucca – 1 August 1806 in Lisbon) was a pioneering Italian aeronaut, born in Lucca. Vincenzo Lunardi's family were of minor Tuscan nobility from Lucca. Vincenzo Lunardi came to England as Secretary to Prince Caramanico, the Neapolitan Ambassador.

Illustrated By:


Format: Hardcover,
Language: English
Dust Jacket: No Jacket, Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

Published By: Printed for the author and sold at the Pantheon, J. Bell at the British Library and Mr Molini's, Woodstock Street, London

duodecimo or twelvemo (12mo 5 × 7+3⁄8 127 × 187),Pages 66

ISBN:

There was a flying craze in France and Scotland with James Tytler, Scotland's first aeronaut and the first Briton to fly, but even so and after a year since the invention of the balloon, the English were still skeptical, and so George Biggin and 'Vincent' Lunardi, "The Daredevil Aeronaut", together decided to demonstrate a hydrogen balloon flight at the Artillery Ground of the Honourable Artillery Company in London on 15 September 1784. However, because the 200,000-strong crowd (which included eminent statesmen and the Prince of Wales) had grown very impatient, the young Italian had to take off without his friend Biggin, and with a bag that was not completely inflated, but he was accompanied by a dog, a cat and a caged pigeon. The flight from the Artillery Ground travelled in a northerly direction towards Hertfordshire, with Lunardi touching down briefly in a cornfield in the parish of North Mymms to release the cat which had become unwell. The field is opposite Queenswood School north of Shepherds Way (B157) to the south-east of Brookmans Park. There is a commemorative stone in Welham Green, almost three miles to the north-west of the North Mymms landing spot, at a road junction called Balloon Corner. After the brief touch down, Lunardi continued his flight before eventually bringing the balloon to rest in Standon Green End. The stone at Standon Green End, Hertfordshire, where Lunardi ended the first manned flight over England. The stone marking the spot at Standon Green End, Hertfordshire, where Lunardi ended his flight. Lunardi's balloon was later exhibited at the Pantheon in Oxford Street. Lunardi published An Account of the First Aërial Voyage in England (1784), written as a series of letters to his guardian, Gherardo Campagni.



SKU: BTETM0002380
Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg