Graham's Improved Balloon
Dates
- Creation: c. 1823-1853
Creator
- Torond, H. (Publisher, Person)
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
Margaret Graham (b. 1804), and George Graham, known as "Mr. and Mrs. Graham," were active balloonists in England from 1823-c. 1853. Mrs. Graham was the more active aeronaut and made her first balloon ascent in the company of her husband, on June 2, 1824. In July 1836, she ascended for the first time with another woman, marking the first recorded ascent by women alone. The Grahams’ ballooning careers were marked by difficult ascensions and accidents, involving both their solo flights and those made with together. Mrs. Graham’s last recorded balloon ascension was made on August 19, 1853 from the Rotunda Gardens in Dublin.
Language of Materials
English
Existence and Location of Originals
Box 5
Physical Description
Art on Paper
Dimensions
19.6 x 14.7 cm
General Note
Image showing Graham’s "improved balloon," with a man and a woman, presumably Mr. and Mrs. Graham, in the basket waving flags.
Sources used for Biographical/Historical note
Hodgson, J.E., History of Aeronautics in Great Britain (Oxford University Press, London, 1924), 226-228.
Turnor, Hatton, Astra Castra; experiments and adventures in the atmosphere (London, Chapman and Hall, 1865),136, 220.
Wroth, Warwick, Cremorne and the later London gardens (London, Stock, 1907), 46, 50, 87.
Subject
- Graham, Margaret Bloy (Person)
- Graham, George, active 1823-1853 (Person)
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
