Pennington & Cos. aerial steam ship or composite ballon – Antique Print
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
A window into the past: Pennington & Cos. aerial steam ship or composite ballon, preserved in this historic print. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. Perfect for a home, office, library or classroom wall, and a gift with a story behind it. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Pennington & Cos. aerial steam ship or composite ballon
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Few pictures from the period promise as much as this one: a proposed steam-powered airship, described as a "composite balloon," copyrighted by inventor John H. Pennington and published in Philadelphia by P.S. Duval around 1850. Mid-century inventors were eager to turn the balloon, which had carried passengers since the 1780s, into a craft that could be steered and driven by engine power rather than drifting with the wind. Prints like this one were as much promotions for an idea as records of a machine. The catalog notes that the date and details come from older cards and remain unverified.
| Created / published | c1850. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print. |
| Genre | Prints 1850.Portrait prints 1850. |
| Notes | 104 U.S. Copyright Office. Publisher: P.S. Duval, Philadelphia. Copyright claimant: John H. Pennington. This record contains unverified, old data from shelflist card, with subsequent revisions. |
| Subjects | Pennington, John H. Aircraft--American--1850. Aeronautics--United States--1850. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,145 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-109433 |
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