Balloon Journal — Desrais 1786 Montgolfier Brothers

On the morning of 19 September 1783, the gardens of the Palace of Versailles fell silent as a 70-foot balloon painted sky-blue with gold fleurs-de-lys and royal ciphers rose into the air before King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette, and the assembled court. In the crimson basket beneath hung a sheep, a duck, and a rooster — the first living creatures ever to ascend into the atmosphere. Two months later, on 21 November 1783, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes became the first human beings to fly untethered over Paris. The front cover presents Claude Louis Desrais’s magnificent hand-coloured engraving of the Versailles demonstration (1786) — the Le Réveillon balloon ascending above the palace gardens, the royal court observing from the foreground, the composition capturing the precise moment when flight transformed from philosophical speculation to demonstrated reality; the back cover presents Desrais’s detailed technical diagram Figure Exacte Et Proportions Du Globe Aérostatique (1786) — the exact specifications of the balloon used for the first untethered manned flight: height 70 pieds, diameter 46 pieds, capacity 60,000 cubic pieds, weight 1,000 livres, with period French text describing the elaborate ornamentation of gold fleurs-de-lys, zodiac signs, royal ciphers surrounded by suns, mascarons, garlands, and supporting eagles, all rendered in gold on azure blue.

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Product Details

• Format: Hardcover journal
• Pages: 150 lined pages (75 sheets) with perforations for easy removal
• Binding: Casewrap sewn binding — flexible and lay-flat
• Dimensions: 5.75 × 8 inches
• Weight: 250 g
• Cover: Matte laminated full-wrap print

Perfect For

• Aviation historians and aerospace enthusiasts celebrating the dawn of human flight
• French Enlightenment history and 18th-century science collectors
• Travellers and adventurers inspired by the spirit of exploration
• Students and educators of the history of science and technology
• Steampunk and retro-futurism enthusiasts drawn to the age of aeronautics
• Thoughtful gifts for anyone captivated by the Montgolfier brothers’ achievement