Tiberius Cavallo | The first book in English on Aerostation, an association copy inscribed by Benjamin Franklin

Tiberius Cavallo

The History and Practice of Aerostation. London, For the Author, 1785

8vo (218 x 138 mm, uncut). Author's ad on the final page of text, with 2 engraved folding plates at the rear; occasional light foxing, a few instances of dust-soiling along fore-edges, the title chipped and toned along the edges, the inscriptions faded, a small loss in the margin of leaf L1. Mostly disbound; without the front board and the spine, but retaining the original blue paper board at rear, with the upper two cords intact.

First edition. A significant association copy, given by Benjamin Franklin to his close friend Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours inscribed: "To Mr. DuPont de Nemours From His Obliged & Obedt Servt B. Franklin July 1785."

Below is a second presentation inscription, likely in the hand of Pierre Samuel Dupont: "A ma chère cousine en Carolina, Aoust 1799, DuPont de Nemours, Souvenir du Bon Homme Richard."

The first book in English devoted to early aeronautical experimentation.

While in Paris, Franklin took a keen interest in the Montgolfier brothers and their newly invented hot-air balloon, called an aréostat. He witnessed the first unmanned balloon flight in August 1783, and the first manned flight that November. In fact, Franklin was among the scientists who signed an official certificate for the Montgolfier brothers, as noted by Cavallo (p. 50). Cavallo describes various earlier balloon experiments, but focuses largely on the Montgolfier brothers. He also speculates on the scientific principles behind aerostation, and the practical applications for ballooning. Franklin was more reticent when discussing the new technology; when asked about the new invention's usefulness, Franklin is alleged to have replied, "What good is a newborn baby?"

Franklin met Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours while in France, and they became close friends and correspondents. Both were enlightenment thinkers, bonding during long discussions on liberal reforms, science, and politics. As such, Cavallo's book would have been of interest to them both. They also shared relatively humble roots—Du Pont was the son of a Huguenot watchmaker and an impoverished noblewoman, while Franklin's father was a candle- and soapmaker.

Du Pont's inscription to his "chère cousine" is particularly charming, given its reference to Franklin as "Bon Homme Richard," or Poor Richard, his popular character and pseudonym. Though we are unable to trace the exact "chère cousine en Carolina," Du Pont's son, Victor Marie, was the French Consul at Charleston, South Carolina, from around 1793 to 1797. He returned to France in the summer of 1799, so it seems likely that the inscription's recipient was, in some way, related to him. Both father and son would immigrate to the United States in 1800, perhaps bringing the book back with them to Franklin's homeland.

Franklin's presentation inscription, though quite faded, was authenticated by Edwin Wolf in his survey of books that belonged to Franklin.

REFERENCES

ESTC T121745; Wolf and Hayes, Library of Ben Franklin 563; Leibmann & Wahl 644

PROVENANCE

Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours (gift inscription from Benjamin Franklin dated 1785) — unidentified Du Pont cousin (gift inscription dated 1799) — George Morland (signature) — Christie's New York, 14 December 1984, lot 195 (undesignated consignor) — Stuart E. Karu (Sotheby's New York, 16 June 1992, lot 151)