FONVIELLE, Wilfrid de.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Adventures in the Air. First edition, presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper by the translator and editor to "W. D. Hughes Esq." and dated January 1878. Originally written in French by Fonvielle and entitled Aventures Aériennes, it was translated and revised by Keltie in collaboration with the author.Adventures in the Air is a lively compilation on the invention and use of hot air balloons. While not intended as a comprehensive history of ballooning, the book presents some of the most intriguing and unusual accounts of early aerial exploits. Among its highlights is a chapter on the history of women aeronauts, which boldly asserts that "ascents by women were so brilliant and so numerous that one might have been led to conclude that the male sex had been banished from the sky" (p. 142). In adapting the text for an English audience, Keltie (1840-1927) omitted sections more suited to French tastes and introduced new material on English ballooning.Keltie, a Scottish geographer and prominent member of the Royal Geographical Society, ensured the English edition was handsomely illustrated, featuring engraved plates, with some new illustrations. Copies bound in red cloth were also produced with no known priority. An extra plate entitled "Preparation of Hydrogen Gas - M. Giffard's Process" which is not stated in the list of illustrations faces page 298, as found in other first edition copies.

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