Count Zambeccari's Balloon as it ascended from Tottenham Court Road

Captioned: 'Count Zambecary's Balloon as it ascended with Count Zambecary and Admiral Vernon from Totenham Court Road'

Colored drawing depicting a flight made by Count Zambeccari (1752 - 1812) on 25th March 1785. He had originally planned to fly with Admiral Sir Edward Vernon and a Miss Grist, but the weight was too great and Miss Grist was left behind. The balloon took off from the Tottenham Court Road, but there was a strong wind and the balloon was damaged in its ascent, with the cord controlling the valve being lost. When the balloon was above the clouds three of the cords attaching the car to the balloon broke. At this point the Admiral expressed a "Desire of Approaching nearer to the Surface of the Earth".

The Count unwisely jettisoned the last of the ballast causing the balloon to rise rapidly and they found themselves in the middle of a snowstorm, where the balloon began to revolve. They managed to land safely an hour later at Horsham.