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A Gawrey Extended for Flight

 Digital Record
Identifier: VBI_000097

Dates

  • Creation: 1750

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

The popular novel "The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins" was written by Robert Paltock (1697-1767) and published anonymously in 1751. The author's name was finally learned in 1835, when the agreement to sell the manuscript to publisher Robert Dodsley was discovered. The book was translated into several languages and the story became a popular base for theater performances in the early nineteenth century.

Language of Materials

English

Existence and Location of Originals

Box 5

Physical Description

Art on Paper

Dimensions

21.0 x 12.8 cm

Source for Biographical/Historical note

Hodgson, J.E., History of Aeronautics in Great Britain (Oxford University Press, London, 1924), 63-64.

General Note

Engraving depicting a standing Gawrey, a member of a race of winged women from Robert Paltock's novel "The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins." Above the illustration is written "Engrav'd for the Grand Magazine of Magazines" and below is written "publish'd by M. Cooper at the Globe in Pater Noster Row 1750."

Repository Details

Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository

Contact:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries
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Cambridge MA 02139-4307 US