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Auction: 14035 - Postal History, Autographs and Historical Documents
Lot: 3054

Historical Documents
The Royal Vauxhall Balloon
1836 (19 December) advertising poster of the "public ascent of this celebrated balloon". A delightful poster in English in black on pale yellow and featuring several type founts including some which would have been quite avant guard at the time. Small fragment of upper corner missing, otherwise in a very good state of preservation. 10 x 14¼ inch. Photo

This ascent took place from The Barracks in the Rue de Faubourg in Paris with eight persons. Admission was 5 Francs. Tickets for ascent in the car (gondola) was 600 francs (some £28). The Balloon was in Europe because this was directly after the famous journey it made from Vauxhall Gardens in London crossing the channel and descending at Weilburg in Nassau, Germany, having traveled some 500 miles in 18 hours, a record that stood for another 70 years

Charles Green (1785 – 1870) was the United Kingdom's most famous balloonist of the 19th century. He experimented with coal gas as a cheaper and more readily available alternative to hydrogen for lifting power. His first ascent was in a coal gas balloon on 19 July 1821. He became a professional balloonist and had made 200 ascents by 1835. In 1836, he set the long distance record in the balloon "Royal Vauxhall", flying overnight from Vauxhall Gardens in London to Weilburg, Duchy of Nassau (Germany) a distance of 480 miles (770 km). By the time he retired in 1852, he had flown in a balloon more than 500 times

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Estimate
£500 to £600