Author: PINGERON, Jean Claude.
Title: L'art de faire soi-même les ballons aérostatiques, conformes à ceux de M. de Montgolfier.Amsterdam, for Hardouin, Libraire à Paris, [1783]. 8vo. With a full-page engraved plate, a woodcut vignette on the title page, and a woodcut headpiece. Contemporary wrappers, side stitched through 2 holes, with the manuscript title and publication details on the front wrapper. The work is housed in a dark green clamshell box.
Description: [2], 42 pp.Rare first edition of a letter describing one of the first hot-air balloon flights in history, written by a spectator. The flight took place in Versailles on the 19th of September 1783 in front of king Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, and was only the second time this particular type of hot-air balloon was used. The present account was written a few days after the flight and is quite rare. Only seven copies have been recorded in libraries, and we have not been able to find any copies in sales records since 1986.The Montgolfier brothers, two French paper manufacturers, had been trying to invent a useable hot-air balloon for many years, as they were determined to fly. However, none of their models was able to sustain flight. Their dream only became within reach after Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) discovered hydrogen, a type of gas that is lighter than air. The brothers began experimenting with it. In June 1783 their balloon, filled with hydrogen, was finally able to take flight and land undamaged. When word reached Paris, a few Parisians decided to make their own balloon. It took flight, but burst soon after and fell down. The Montgolfiers then travelled to Versailles to show their invention, which was called "the Montgolfière". For this second trial, they fastened a large basket to the balloon in which they placed a sheep, duck, and a rooster, to test whether living creatures could survive the flight. This was the first time in history that animals were used for aeronautic exploration. The flight only lasted ten minutes, as the balloon leaked. The rooster had a small wound upon return, but the other animals were unharmed. The Montgolfière was successfully used to carry men only a few months later.Jean Claude Pingeron (1730-1795) was a writer and engineer in the military. He wrote the present account originally as a letter to Madame la Marquise de Brantes, d'Avignon, on September 22nd 1783. In it, he described the Montgolfière trial in great detail, and also explains the science behind it. It was published, according to the note on the final page, to help anyone make their own hot-air balloon. The beautifully engraved plate shows the Montgolfière in action.With a manuscript shelf mark ("LL jsh.") on the front wrapper. The wrappers are somewhat browned, soiled, and creased around the edges. Otherwise in very good condition.l STCN 260074322 (1 copy); Tissandier, Bibliographie aeronatique, p. 32; WorldCat 1176624559, 921530095, 1143045587 and 1144921639 (7 copies); cf. Gartmann, Science as history, pp. 86-91.

Keywords: [E51AD6E3D609] SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY|[E51AD6E3D609] SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY -> [82640FCA07D5] Technology|