Ascended Gallery

Balloon designs by Charles & Robert and Montgolfier

Balloon designs by Charles and Robert (1, 5) and the Montgolfier Brothers (2, 3, 4). No. 3 ascended from Versailles. No. 4 ascended from the Chateau de la Muette. No. 5 ascended from the Tuileries Gardens. With a vignette of Jupiter giving the crown to the Montgolfiers. Mercury is shown distraught at the fear of losing his job (ie as a flying messenger of the gods). Below is an allegorical female figure representing the River Seine, from where the pioneers ascended. The Latin motto reads: Stat Sine Morte Decus -- their honour is immortal.
circa 1780s

© The Royal Aeronautical Society (National Aerospace Library)/Mary Evans

Garnerins balloons

Five illustrations of An exact representation of M. Garnerin's Balloons with an accurate view of the ascent and descent of the parachute'. Top left: ascended from Ranelagh, 28 June 1802, passengers Garnerin and Snowden, landed 45 minutes later near Colchester, Essex. Bottom left: ascended from Lord's Cricket Ground, 5 July 1802, passengers Garnerin and Locker, landed 15 minutes later at Chingford Green, Essex. Centre: ascended from North Audley Street, 21 September 1802, passenger Garnerin, landed 10 minutes later in a parachute near St Pancras Church -- claimed to be the first parachute descent in England. Top right: ascended from Vauxhall Gardens, 3 August 1802, passengers Garnerin, Madame Garnerin and Glassford, a cat descended by parachute partway through the journey, and the balloon landed on Hampstead Hill 62 minutes after takeoff. Bottom right: ascended from Sydney Gardens, Bath, 7 September 1802, passengers Garnerin and Glassford, landed 110 minutes later near Mells Park, 16 miles from Bath. The maximum height reached was 10, 000 feet on 28 June.
1802

© The Royal Aeronautical Society (National Aerospace Library)/Mary Evans