Montgolfians
BALLOONS. With an introduction by C. H. Gibbs-Smith. (The Ariel Press, London, 25s.)
LONG ago there used to be a kind of milk chocolate—I expect many readers remember it—it was 'the original Swiss milk choco- late,' wrapped in brown-red paper the colour of the LNER engines in which I was also interested, and the writing on this wrapper ended with the words : 'Recommended to cyclists, clergymen and sportsmen generally.'
Why not balloonists? Because balloons seem to belong to the same era. They remind one of Andre, the arctic explorer, and of Jules Verne. But that was the Augustan, or silver, age of ballooning, and here is a book of delightful balloon prints of the golden age. There is something wilfully carefree about balloon- ing, as though the aeronaut cannot be bothered to know where he is going. Within my own acquaintance there was the celebrated wine merchant of St. James's Street who used to set off with a hamper of wines for the Gordon Bennett Balloon Cup, and who landed one year in Iceland.
But let us look at the prints! There are the wonderful and beautiful French balloons of the eighteenth century, hot-air balloons or Montgolfieres. Sky-blue in colour with the entwined 'L's; painted with the signs of the zodiac; or with two figures of the winds with puffing checks. There is even a Motagolfiere, latwee a Tivoli, and painted with statues in niches and classical arcades.
But Napoleon is Emperor, and there is a design for the balloon to be released at his coronation. It has his victories round its
circumference and its 'basket' is an imperial eagle with out- stretched wings. This design was not carried out, but the balloon which was sent off landed on Nero's tomb in Rome and was finally blown into Lake Bracciano ! La Minerve cg 1803 is a balloon caricature which resembles Brueghel's Tower of Babel. Finally, the excellent notes accompanying the book tell us two things : of a design made in 1835 by a Mr. Mackintosh for a 'bird-galley' drawn by sixteen eagles harnessed in frames; and more remarkable still, that in recent years an American inventor attached bluebottles to miniature aeroplanes!
SACHEVERELL SITWELL
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