Lunardi's Balloon on Exhibition: 1784
Lunardi's Balloon on Exhibition: 1784
One sees from this splendid aquatint that the custom of putting on show a record-breaking vehicle dates back to the start of practical flying. After Vincenzo Lunardi had made the first aerial voyage in Britain on September 15th, 1784, his gay balloon of blue and red gores was put on exhibition inflated with air in the Pantheon in Oxford Street, along with the cat and dog he had taken with him as passengers.
Lunardi came in for much adulation and quite properly after his famous flight; but one may take leave to doubt that his popularity would have been quite so great had he not been quite so handsome. As it was, he was the rage in society for some time, and there was even a vogue for Lunardi bonnets and Lunardi garters among the ladies. But his popularity inevitably waned, even among the fair sex, despite further flights in an even more decorative balloon.
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. 12
Original size 38.5cm by 35.5cm
Free UK 2nd class recorded delivery - other options are offered
UK VAT included
The price you see is the price you pay!
