The Pictures of The Three Favorite Aerial Travellers

Extract

Early in May 1785, Mr. Vincent Lunardi, famous for the first balloon ascent in England on 15th September 1784, announced that he would ascend again, in his new balloon, on 13th May, this time accompanied by his friend Mr. George Biggin and a lady.

For the occasion a stipple engraving (Fig. 1) was published, entitled “V. Lunardi, Esq., Mrs. Sage, G. Biggin Esq.”, showing these individuals in the balloon’s car. On the engraving, the date of publication is given as 13th May, the date fixed for the ascent, Mr. Bovi is named as the publisher, F. Bartolozzi as the engraver and Rigaud as the artist who had painted the picture from which the engraving had been made.