The History of Aeronautics in Great Britain, from the Earliest Times to the Latter Half of the Nineteenth Century

Martino Publishing, Mansfield Centre, 1999 reprint of 1924 first edition. Cloth, 8vo, 29 cm,. xxii, 436 pp, ills, facs. With 150 illustrations from contemporary sources, chronology, bibliography. From the publisher's description: "The great value of this book, at least for the antiquarian bookseller or collector, is the attention given to the printed works associated with the history of aeronautics. The work makes constant reference to the historical literature of aeronautics. It is much more of a literary history of the subject than a technical one. There are hundreds of references to the mention of aeronautics in literature, science, belle-lettres, and the like. Though not a bibliography, the work is full of bibliographical citations the antiquarian will find very useful. The period covered is from the earliest times to the latter half of the nineteenth century. The work is adorned with 150 illustrations from contemporary sources, and contains a Chronology and a bibliography." Contents include: General Survey; Part I. Early Ideas on Flight, and the Invention of the Balloon; Part II. The Navigable Balloon, and the Flying Machine. I Legend, Apocryphal Flight, and Romance; II Early Scientific Speculations; III Eighteenth-Century Chemists : the Discovery of Hydrogen and Invention of the Balloon; IV EarlyAerostaticExperiments andAttempted Ascents; V. Vincent Lunardi : the First Aerial Voyager in England; VI. The First English Aeronaut, James Sadler, and his sons VII Early Foreign Balloonists in England : Blanchard, Zambeccari, &c.; VIII British Aeronauts Prior to 1800; IX. The Balloon in Literature, Caricature, and Fashion; X. Ballooning from 1800 to 1850; XI. Charles Green, 1785-1870; XII. The Decline of the Free Balloon, and the Development of Aeronautical Science; XIII Early Attempts to Control Balloons, and the Evolution of the Airship; XIV The Development of the Parachute; XV The Evolution of Mechanical Flight, with a Note on Kite-Flying. Appendices : I. Chronology; II. List of Papers in the Aeronautical Society's Reports, 1866-98; III. Selected and Annotated Bibliography; IV. Note on the Cuthbert Aeronautical Collection; Index. Fine.