
Lot 81•
LUNARDI (VINCENZO) An Account of the First Aerial Voyage in England, FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, for the Author, 1784
23 March 2022, 12:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £1,020 inc. premium
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LUNARDI (VINCENZO)
An Account of the First Aerial Voyage in England, in a Series of Letters to his Guardian, Chevalier Gherardo Compagni, Written under the Impressions of the Various Events that Affected the Undertaking, FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR for authentication on the half-title, engraved frontispiece portrait of the author by Bartolozzi after R. Cosway, 2 folding engraved plates, advertisement on final leaf, some spotting and off-setting, later polished calf gilt, g.e., joints rubbed, 8vo, for the Author, 1784
Footnotes
Lunardi (1759-1806), an Italian diplomat, made the first British ascent in a hydrogen balloon on 15 September 1784, the success of which made him the most "prominent figure in the early annals of aerostation in England, while his exploits undoubtedly encouraged the vogue of ballooning in those early days" (Hodgson, The History of Aeronautics in Great Britain, 1924).