Falling Upwards

  Jean Bruno, Les Aventures de Paul enlevé par un ballon, 1858

  General George C. Custer, ‘War Memoirs of 1862’, 1876

  Jules Verne, Five Weeks in a Balloon, 1864

  Félix Nadar, Memoires du Géant, Paris, 1864

  Gaston Tissandier, ‘L’Histoire d’un ballon’, 1870

  James Glaisher, Travels in the Air, London, 1871

  Gaston Tissandier, ‘Les Ballons du siège de Paris’, 1872

  Thomas Wise, Through the Air, 1873

  Wilfrid de Fonvielle, Aventures aériennes, 1876

  James Glaisher, ‘Address to the Young Men’s Christian Association on a high-altitude balloon ascent with Mr Coxwell’, 1875

  Henry Coxwell, My Life and Balloon Experiences, 1887

  Thaddeus C. Lowe, My Balloons in Peace and War, 1890

  H.G. Wells, The War in the Air, 1908

  Salomon Andrée, The Andrée Diaries, 1931

  Jean de Brunhoff, Le Voyage de Babar, 1932

  Anthony Smith, Throw Out Two Hands, 1963

  Ian McEwan, Enduring Love, 1997

  David Hempleman-Adams, At the Mercy of the Winds, 2001

  Illustrations

  COLOUR PLATES

  1. Philippe Lesueur’s letter depicting the Montgolfier ascent from Versailles, with animal passengers, 22 September 1783. With the kind permission of the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum

  2. ‘The Perilous Situation of Major Money’ from Aeronautica Illustrata, 1785. © Derek Bayes/Lebrecht Music & Arts

  3. The Institut Royal de France portrait of Jacques Alexandre César Charles, by Bailly, 1820. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02185

  4. André Jacques Garnerin, drawn and engraved by Edward Hawke-Locker, from a sketch made on their aerial voyage, 5 July 1802. © Library of Congress/Science Photo Library

  5. Madame Blanchard, aeronaut, drawn by Jules Porreau. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-97340

  6. Madame Blanchard during the balloon flight in Milan in the presence Napoleon on 15 August 1811’, drawn by Luigi Rados. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02180

  7. ‘La Mort de Harris’, 1824. Early flight collecting card issued by Romanet & Cie, Paris, 1895. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02561

  8. Tiberius Cavallo, by unknown artist, oil on oak panel, c.1790. © National Portrait Gallery, London

  9. Charles Green, by Hilaire Ledru, oil on panel, 1835. © National Portrait Gallery, London

  10. ‘A Consultation Prior to the Aerial Voyage to Weilburgh, 1836’, by John Hollins, oil on canvas, c.1836–1838. © National Portrait Gallery, London

  11. Green, Holland, and Mason in the Royal Victoria balloon (subsequently the Nassau) at night over the iron foundries of Liège, 1836. From a sketch by Monck Mason, in Aeronautica, 1838. © Sheila Terry/Science Photo Library

  12. ‘Mr Charles Green, the Aeronaut’, painted by John Hollins, mezzotint by G.T. Payne, 1838. © National Library of Australia pic-an9548228

  13. Mary Shelley, by Samuel John Stump, 1830. © Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images. The identity of this image has not been confirmed by the National Portrait Gallery, London

  14. Jane Loudon, photograph reproduced in In Search of English Gardens: The Travels of John Claudius Loudon and his Wife Jane, edited by Priscilla Boniface (Lennard, Wheathampstead, 1987)

  15. Edgar Allan Poe, woodcut by anonymous artist, from A History of the United States of America by Horace E. Scudder (Sheldon & Co., New York, 1897). © 2013 University of South Florida

  16. Percy Bysshe Shelley, by Alfred Clint, after Amelia Curran, and Edward Ellerker Williams, oil on canvas, 1819. © National Portrait Gallery, London

  17. Charles Dickens, by anonymous artist, c.1835. © Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

  18. Henry Mayhew, engraving after a daguerreotype by Beard, from an edition of London Labour and the London Poor, c.1865. © Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

  19. Félix Nadar, Auto-portrait, c.1855. © The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

  20. ‘Mr Glaisher insensible at the height of seven miles’, engraving from Travels in the Air, edited by James Glaisher, 1871

  21. ‘Paul takes off in the Leviathan’, from Les Aventures de Paul by Jean Bruno (Bernardin-Béchet, Paris, 1869). Illustration by J. Desandr, 1869. © Courtesy, The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

  22. ‘Le Ballon-Poste.’ Paris siege poster advertising a weekly ‘airmail’ newspaper, the Balloon Post, containing ‘a complete Journal of the week’s events, and two columns of Private Correspondance’ to be flown out by Ballon Monté (manned Balloon), for a subscription price of 20c. ‘This week’s edition of the Balloon Post gives clear and complete instructions on how to send and receive back Answer Postcards by which news and messages may be exchanged with all the departments of France.’ With the kind permission of Grosvenor Auctioneers and Valuers

  23. Le Ballon, by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, oil on panel, 1870. © Mondadori Electa/UIG/age footstock

  24. Major General George Custer, 1865. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-cwpbh-03216

  25. ‘Thaddeus Lowe and his Balloon’, by Mort Künstler, 1991. © Mort Künstler Inc, www.mkunstler.com

  26. ‘In one bound we pass through the thick layer of cloud’, woodcut from Travels in the Air, edited by James Glaisher, 1871

  27. Albert (left) and Gaston Tissandier with their balloons Zénith (top left), Jean Bart (top right) and prototype airship below. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02274

  28. ‘Universum’, or ‘The Pilgrim’, engraving imitating a medieval woodcut by Camille Flammarion, 1888, coloured by Hugo Heikenwaelder, 1998. © With the kind permission of Hugo Heikenwaelder

  29. Camille Flammarion aged eighty-two, portrait photograph by Underwood & Underwood, 1924. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-116545

  30. Jules Verne, 1875 © Photo by Apic/Getty Images

  31. Victor Hugo, 1880s. © Photo by Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

  32. James Glaisher, 1875. © Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

  33. H. G. Wells, photo by Reginald Haines c.1908. © Photo/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

  34. David Hempleman-Adams, courtesy of David Hempleman-Adams

  35. Ian McEwan. © Eamonn McCabe

  36-37. Left to right: Knut Fraenkel, Salomon Andrée and Nils Strindberg before the second polar expedition, by Gösta Flormans, 1897 © National Museum of Science and Technology, Stockholm

  38. Photograph of Fanny Godard in her basket, by Nadar, 1879. © 2004/403/45 Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, Le Bourget, France

  39. Photograph of Dolly Shepherd, by A.E. Langdon, 1911. © IWM (Q 98454)

  40. ‘Whimsical American style: a balloon wedding in the clouds’, in La Domenica del Corriere by Achille Beltrame, 1911. © 2013. A. Dagli Orti/Scala, Florence

  41. Cover of the first edition of Le Voyage de Babar, 1932. © Librairie Hachette, 1932/Courtesy of Aleph-Bet Books

  42. Film tie-in paperback cover of Enduring Love (London, Vintage, 1997), 2004. © Random House

  43. The 2010 Albuquerque Fiesta, aerial photograph by Richard Holmes

  TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS

  1. A cluster balloon flight, Jonathan Trappe, 2010. © Barcroft Media

  2. ‘The Perilous Situation of Major Money’, from Aeronautica Illustrata, 1785. © Derek Bayes/Lebrecht Music & Arts

  3. Nazca balloon flown in Peru by Julian Nott and Jim Woodman, 1975. © Photograph by Larry Dale Gordon

  4. The Wetzel and Strelzyk families re-enact their escape, 1979. German Press Agency

  5. Dr Jacques Alexandre César Charles receiving a wreath from Apollo, by E.A. Tilly. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02190

  6. ‘A Balloon Prospect from above the Cloud
s’, from Airopaedia by Thomas Baldwin, 1785. © Science Museum/Science & Society

  7. Philippe Lesueur’s letter depicting the Montgolfier ascent from Versailles, with animal passengers, 22 September 1783. With the kind permission of the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum

  8. George Biggins’s Ascent in Lunardi’s Balloon, 1784. © Science and Society Photo Library/Science Museum/Getty Images

  9. Engraving of Cyrano de Bergerac flying to the moon, from L’Histoire comique contenant les états et empires de la Lune, 1657

  10. Earthrise viewed from Apollo 8, 24 December 1968. © NASA

  11. ‘The Battle of the Balloons’, printed by Bowles & Carver, c.1784. © The Royal Aeronautical Society (National Aerospace Library)/Mary Evans

  12. The Enterprise at the Battle of Fleurus, 1794. Early flight collecting card issued by Romanet & Cie, Paris, 1895. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02562

  13. ‘Invasion Plans’ featuring the Thilorière balloon, anonymous artist, reproduced in Le Directoire by Paul Lacroix, 1804. © Mary Evans Picture Library

  14. ‘Monsieur Garnerin’, drawn and engraved by Edward Hawke-Locker, from a sketch made on their aerial voyage, 5 July 1802. © Library of Congress/Science Photo Library

  15. ‘An exact representation of Monsieur Garnerin’s Balloons’, engraving by H. Merke. ©The Royal Aeronautical Society (National Aerospace Library)/Mary Evans

  16. Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Jean-Baptiste Biot at 4,000-metre altitude, 1804. Early flight collecting card issued by Romanet & Cie, Paris, 1895. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02561

  17. Madame Blanchard, aeronaut, drawn by Jules Porreau. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-97340

  18. ‘Madame Blanchard during the balloon flight in Milan in the presence Napoleon on 15 August 1811’, drawn by Luigi Rados. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02180

  19. Death of Madame Blanchard, 1819. Early flight collecting card issued by Romanet & Cie, Paris, 1895. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02561

  20. Sophie Blanchard’s grave in Père-Lachaise Cemetery. © Gede

  21. Death of Harris, 1824. Early flight collecting card, issued by Romanet & Cie: Paris, 1895. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-02561

  21. ‘A Scene in the Farce of Lofty Projects’, engraving by George Cruikshank after T. Greenwood, 1825. © Science and Society/SuperStock

  22. Charles Green, by Hilaire Ledru, oil on panel, 1835. © National Portrait Gallery, London

  23. Charles Green on horseback suspended from a balloon to advertise balloon ascensions in Vauxhall Gardens, c.1832. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZC4-10454

  24. Poster for Charles Green’s ascent in the Nassau on 6 October 1840. © The Royal Aeronautical Society (National Aerospace Library)/Mary Evans Picture Library

  25. Poster for a Grand Fête in honour of the Princess Victoria’s Birthday at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, c.1841. © The Royal Aeronautical Society (National Aerospace Library)/Mary Evans

  26. Holland, Green and Mason in the Royal Victoria balloon (subsequently the Nassau) at night over the iron foundries of Liège, 1836, from a sketch by Monck Mason, in Aeronautica, 1838

  27. Cover of The Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe, 2006, from Odilon Redon, ‘The Eye like a strange Balloon mounts towards Eternity’, 1878. © Penguin Books

  28. ‘Ascent of the great Nassau balloon, Montpellier Gardens, 3 July 1837’, by George Rowe. © Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museums, Gloucestershire, UK/Bridgeman Art Library

  29. ‘A Consultation Prior to the Aerial Voyage to Weilburgh, 1836’, by John Hollins, oil on canvas, c.1836–1838. © National Portrait Gallery, London. Left to right: Sir William Melbourne James (Lord Justice of Appeal), John Hollins, Walter Prideaux (lawyer), Robert Hollond MP, Monck Mason, Charles Green

  30. Medal commemorating the balloon flight of Charles Green from London to Weilburg (Nassau) on 7 November 1836. © Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library

  31. ‘Ascent of Mr Green’s Balloon, on Monday Last’, 1848. © Illustrated London News/Science & Society Picture Library/Getty Images

  32. ‘Over London – By Rail’ engraving by Gustave Doré, 1872. © Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library

  33. Etching by George Cruikshank of the title page for Sketches by Boz, by Charles Dickens, 1836. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

  34. ‘Scientific Ascent from Vauxhall Gardens’, 1865. © Science & Society Picture Library/Getty Images

  35. ‘Poverty Map of London’, showing the Lisson Grove area, by Charles Booth. © Antiqua Print Gallery

  36. ‘A Balloon View of London’, published by Banks & Co., 1851. © London Metropolitan Archives, City of London/Bridgeman Art Library

  37. ‘Great Fire of Newcastle and Gateshead’, October 1854. © Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

  38. Poster for a ‘Last Grand Night Ascent’ by the Royal Vauxhall at Vauxhall Gardens, 1858. With the kind permission of Ethan Tucker

  39. Poster announcing the closure of Vauxhall Gardens, 1859. © Museum of London

  40. John Wise, aeronaut, 1850. © Science, Industry & Business Library/New York Public Library/Science Photo Library

  41. John Wise’s balloon the Jupiter ascends above the city of Lafayette. © Smithsonian National Postal Museum

  42. ‘Aerial Sketch View of Niagara Falls – Cloud-Manufactory’, by J. Dalziel, from Through the Air: A Narrative of Forty Years (1873) by John Wise

  43. ‘The Atlantic over Lake Ontario’, by J. Dalziel, from Through the Air: A Narrative of Forty Years (1873) by John Wise

  44. ‘John La Mountain’s descent with Wise, Hyde and Oliver A. Gager’, 1859. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-61154

  45. John La Mountain, woodcut from Harper’s Weekly, c.1860. © Smithsonian Institution Archives, SI 90-6523

  46. Thaddeus Lowe, c.1855. © Courtesy of Michael Patris and the Mount Lowe Preservation Society, Inc

  47. Joseph Henry, photographed by Titian Peale, 1862. © Smithsonian Institution Archives, MAH-10603

  48. Left to right: Allan Pinkerton (head of the Union Intelligence Service), President Abraham Lincoln, and Major General McClellan at the battle of Antietam, 1862. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-cwpb-04326

  49. Detail from a photograph of Thaddeus Lowe ascending in his balloon Intrepid at the Battle of Fair Oaks, 1862. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-cwpb-01560

  50. A sketch made of Southern troop positions by Colonel William Small following an ascent in a Lowe balloon from Charles County, Maryland, 1861. © National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 2003-25385

  51. Thaddeus Lowe observing from his balloon Intrepid at the Battle of Fair Oaks, 1862. © Smithsonian Institution Archives, 2011-0961

  52. Binoculars used by Thaddeus Lowe during the Civil War, photo by Eric Long. © National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 2011-0322

  53. Thaddeus Lowe on horseback during the Peninsular Campaign, 1862. © Smithsonian Institution Archives, SI 80-7745

  54. Major General George Custer, 1865. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-cwpbh-03216

  55. A war balloon preparing for a reconnaissance, sketched by Ed Pietsch, 1861. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-101289

  56. Unnamed young woman wearing a wasp-waisted silk dress from the American Civil War era, photo c.1861–65

  57. ‘Thaddeus Lowe and his Balloon’, by Mort Künstler, 1991. © Mort Künstler Inc., www.mkunstler.com

  58. ‘Nadar Elevating Photography to the Height of Art’, lithograph by Honoré Daumier, 1862. © Private Collection/The Stapleton Collection/Bridgeman Art Library

  59. Aerial
View of Paris, by Nadar, 1858–59. © Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris/Archives Charmet/Bridgeman Art Library

  60. ‘Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See it’, by James Black, 1860. © Fotosearch/Getty Images

  61. Nadar posed in a balloon basket in his Paris studio, photo by Nadar, c.1865. © Getty Images

  62. The gondola of Le Géant, from Illustrated London News, 1863. © Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library

  63. ‘The catastrophe of Le Géant: skimming the ground at Nimbourg’, by Henry de Montaut, 1863

  64. ‘Le Géant approaches a train near Nimbourg’, sketch by Adrien Tournachon. © Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-34605

  65. Cover of the first edition of Le Droit au vol by Nadar (J. Hetzel, Paris, 1865). © Photobibliothek.ch

  66. Cover of the first edition of Memoires du Géant by Nadar (E. Dentu, Paris, 1864). With the kind permission of www.autographes-des-siecles.com

  67. Gustave de Ponton d’Amécourt’s ‘La Hélice’ (‘The Propeller’), photographed by Nadar, 1863. © Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

  68. ‘Le Géant de NADAR: quadrille aérostatique … par Chardon’. Sheet music for ‘An Airborne Quadrille’, piano piece for two or four hands, with words, music and arrangement by Chardon. © Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

  69. Gondola of Le Géant exhibited at the Crystal Palace exhibition hall, 1863. © Royal Astronomical Society/Science Photo Library

  70. Frontispiece to Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne, illustration by Edouard Riou (J. Hetzel, Paris, 1867). © Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France/Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library

  71. Cover of Voyages Extraordinaires by Jules Verne, Collection Hetzel, 1891. © Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

  72. Title page of The Balloon Travels of Robert Merry and His Young Friends by Peter Parley, London: J. Blackwood, 1857. © Courtesy, The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

  73. Cover of Aventures de Paul by Jean Bruno (Bernardin-Béchet, Paris, 1869). © Courtesy, The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

  74. Paul takes off on the Leviathan, illustration by J. Desandr, 1869. © Courtesy, The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana