2-888-017 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Ascent of M. Poiteven, on Horseback, in a Balloon, from the Champ de Mars, Paris, 1850. 'Upwards of 10,000 persons paid for admission...to witness the ascent...It was a matter of considerable difficulty to fill the balloon with gas, owing to the violent wind...it was beaten to and fro...so strongly, that several of the spectators had to assist in holding it...a stout cloth was placed round the body of the horse, and...the animal was attached by cords to the network of the balloon...The aeronaut was dressed as a jockey, and had with him several bottles of wine and some bread....The emotion of the spectators was very great, and one lady fainted'. Poiteven said: "I found the cold almost insupportable. When clear of the clouds, I saw some splendid rainbows, and other phenomena of the solar rays...my horse was close to the fields, and bit off the tops of the corn as he passed over it".' From "Illustrated London News", 1850.