- Creation: circa 1847
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
George Burcher Gale (1794-1850) was a British Navy Lieutenant and amateur aeronaut and inventor. In 1847 he designed and built a balloon meant to combat the difficulties faced by loss of gas at high altitudes. His "Newly Invented Aerostatic Machine" had a central balloon and two auxiliary balloons which could be inflated as needed mid-voyage. It also was designed with a second car that could be lowered 20 or 30 feet below the upper car. The first ascent of this balloon was made from the Rosemary Branch Tavern, Peckham, on April 7, 1847.
Language of Materials
Existence and Location of Originals
20.5 x 11.1 cm
Broadside advertising an exhibition of steam-powered "working models of aerial carriages" Cremorne Gardens on August 21 [c. 1847]. Other events to be held include a night ascent with fireworks by Lieutenant George Gale in the "Royal 'Cremorne' Balloon."
Sources used for Biographical/Historical note
Hodgson, J.E., History of Aeronautics in Great Britain (Oxford University Press, London, 1924), 237-238.
Coxwell, Henry Tracy, My life and balloon experiences. (W.H. Allen, London, 1887), 55-57.
Sala, George Augustus, The life and adventures of George Augustus Sala, written by himself (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1895), 238.
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