Description
Charles conceived the idea that hydrogen could be used to fly a manned balloon based on various scientific principles including Boyle’s Law. Working with his contemporaries the Robert brothers (Anne-Jean Robert and Nicolas-Louis Robert — known collectively as Les Frères Robert), he launched the world’s first hydrogen filled balloon on August 27, 1783 from the Champ de Mars, Paris. On December 1 of the same year, they launched a manned balloon from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. Jacques Charles was accompanied by Nicolas-Louis Robert as co-pilot of the 380-cubic-meter, hydrogen-filled balloon. They ascended to a height of about 1,800 feet and traveled to Nesles-la-Vallée, Unlike the Robert brothers, Charles never flew again, though a hydrogen balloon came to be called a Charlière in his honor.As an inventor, Charles developed a valve to let hydrogen out of the balloon. He also worked on improvements of various other scientific devices. Charles’s law (also known as the law of volumes), describing how gases tend to expand when heated, was first published by natural philosopher Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac in 1802 who credited it to unpublished work by Jacques Charles, and thus named it after him.
Simon Charles Miger was a French printmaker and publisher. He engraved numerous portraits of French royalty, which are in the collections of museums such as the National Gallery of Art, Washington. He also engraved and published books on a variety of subjects, including natural history and philosophical writings by Voltaire and others.
Legend on banner: “Charles aux Thuilleries le 1r Decembre M.DCCLXXXIII.”
Inscription, upper center: “jusqu’alors sans égal Le Monarque des Aira y suivit son Rival.”
Inscription lower left: “Miger Graveur du Roi.”
Inscription lower right: “A Paris chez Miger la grande Maison neuve Place de l’Estrapade.”
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning, wear, soft creases.