The Aerial Transit Company
Dates
- 1843 March 23
Creator
- Ackermann and Co. (Publisher, Organization)
Conditions Governing Use
Access to the Theodore Newton Vail Collection of Aeronautical Images, Broadsides and Clippings is not authorization to publish. Separate written application for permission to publish must be made to the Institute Archives. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the donor of the collection.
Biographical / Historical
In April 1841, William Samuel Henson patented a light-weight steam engine, and with fellow lacemaking-engineer John Stringfellow patented a steam-powered monoplane called the "Henson Aerial Steam Carriage" in 1843. Henson, Stringfellow, Frederick Marriott, and D.E. Colombine formed the Aerial Transit Company. To promote their vision of the future, publicist Frederick Marriott commissioned prints depicting Henson Aerial Steam Carriages flying above London, India, Egypt, China, and other world locations. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to fly models of the craft between 1844 and 1847. The project was eventually abandoned, the company dissolved, and Henson later emigrated to the United States where he patented several other inventions, including the safety razor.
Language of Materials
English
Existence and Location of Originals
Box 4
Physical Description
Art on Paper
Dimensions
22.2 x 28.5 cm
General Note
Colored lithotint commissioned for publicity purposes by the Aerial Transit Company, depicting their Ariel steam carriage flying over an imagined Egyptian landscape with pyramids, Nile River and palm trees.
Sources used for Biographical/Historical Note
Crouch, Tom D., The Eagle Aloft, Two Centuries of the Balloon in America (Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., 1983), 330-331.
Hodgson, J.E., History of Aeronautics in Great Britain (Oxford University Press, London, 1924), 355-358.
- Airships Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Egypt Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Nile River Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Publicity Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Pyramids Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- prints (visual works) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Creator
- Ackermann and Co. (Publisher, Organization)
- Walton, W. L. (Lithographer, Person)
- Day & Haghe (Lithographer, Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries
Building 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139-4307 US
distinctive-collections@mit.edu