Allarme Generale de Habitans de Gonesse
Dates
- Creation: c. 1783
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 first hydrogen-filled balloon was launched from the Champ de Mars in Paris by J.A.C. Charles with Jean and Noël Robert on August 27, 1783. Benjamin Franklin and John Quincy Adams were two witnesses to this launch. When a skeptical viewer commented that the balloon seemed to be of little use, Franklin famously remarked, “What is the use of a new born babe?” Following the attack of the fallen balloon by surprised villagers in Gonesse, French court officials ordered an edict that crafts descending from the sky were likely balloons and should not be treated as supernatural entities.
Language of Materials
French
Existence and Location of Originals
Box 10
Physical Description
Art on Paper
Dimensions
25.6 x 37.8 cm
General Note
Etching and engraving depicting villagers from Gonesse, France attacking the first gas balloon with pitchforks and other weapons, after it descended in the center of their town on August 27, 1783. A caption describes the event and the balloon and mistakenly identifies it as belonging to Montgolfier, though it had been designed and launched by J.A.C. Charles and constructed by M.N. and Jean Robert.
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)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
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
