2. -. Brown (C.H.) A letter to a Friend, Descriptive of Two Excursions with Mr. Coxwell’s Balloon, which ascended from the Leeds Royal Garden, 8pp., original printed pictorial light brown wrapper, top right hand corner missing, slightly soiled, Leeds, [1856] § [Green (Charles)] The Balloon, broadside, details of ballooning voyage, 262 x 201mm., Stamford, [Lincs.], 1825; Cremorne Gardens, broadside, illustration, ascent of the Nassau Balloon, 187 x 127mm., 1846 § Myers (Prof. Carl) The Sky Bicycle Air Ship, broadside advertisement, illustration, old folds previously repaired on verso, small holes affecting text with small loss, slightly worn at edges, 330 x 173mm., Bay State, [Mass.], [1891]; and another, similar, ballooning (5)
est. £200 – £300
Charles Green (1785-1870) was one of the greatest English aeronauts and also pioneered the use of coal-gas in balloons. He made his first ascent, and the first ever to be made with coal-gas, on 19 July 1821, in a balloon called ‘George IV Royal Coronation Balloon’ in celebration of King George IV’s (1762-1830) coronation. By 1835, Green had made over 200 ascents, including many night ascents, in this balloon and its similar successor. He made his most famous ascent in 1836 when he flew from London to Nassau in Germany in the ‘Royal Vauxhall Balloon’ (later renamed the ‘Nassau’). Green finally retired in 1852 after making more than 500 flights. (Science & Society Picture Library)