La Navigation aérienne - Arthur Mangin
MANGIN, Arthur. La Navigation aérienne. Tours: Mame et Cie., 1855. (Bibliothèque des Écoles Chrétiennes series)
First edition, rare, in its original gilt and glazed paper pictorial binding. From the celebrated book collection of Philippe Milon, French officer and ornithologist.
This book is a history of ballooning filled with fascinating details, such as the story of the pioneering Montgolfier Brothers; balloon demonstrations at Versailles for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette; the first crossing of the English Channel in a balloon; the military applications of lighter-than-air aircraft; and the invention of the parachute.
Arthur Mangin (1824-1887) was an enormously influential writer of popular science in France, who is said to have inspired Jules Verne.
Text French. [4], 188 pp. Wood engraved frontispiece. Small 8vo, publisher’s glazed and gilt pink paper covered boards, with coloured lithograph inlay (depicting a balloon taking off in front of an animated crowd of spectators, including a contingent of ladies in colourful crinolines) to front board. Some browning to endpapers. Scattered light foxing. A beautiful copy.
Tissandier 28.