Lot Details
Lot 312
BLANCHARD, J.P. Journal of My Forty-Fifth Ascension being the first performed in America on the ninth of January, 1793.
. Philadelphia: Charles Cist, no. 104 North Second-Street, 1793. First edition. 19th century brown morocco. 7 7/8 inches; 27 pp., including title, final leaf with blank verso; with the very rare folding frontispiece plate of Blanchard's balloon. The text has been bulked out by the binder with blank leaves. Slight separation to the fold of the plate, a small marginal loss at lower left, overall a fresh copy.
The first factual account in book form of an American balloon ascension published in the US. There is also an American edition in French of the Blanchard ascent, similarly dated 1793. Page 3 is a dedication (in type) by Blanchard to George Washington. Washington had attended the event, and facilitated Blanchard's efforts by giving him a form of passport good for wherever he might land. Forty-five minutes after the ascent began, Blanchard touched down (startling nearby residents) near Woodbury, New Jersey. Very rare in commerce. Evans 25207. Aeronautic Americana p.7.
The William G. Gerhard Collection
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