The ascent of the aerial balloon. (BM 1875,0710.5737)

From the 'European Magazine', iv. 272. A completely circular globe to which is attached the handle of a shallow basket containing a cock, a sheep, and a duck. It is watched by a group of French spectators, one of whom, a tailor, kneels on the ground holding a pair of shears with which he has just cut the cord of the balloon. One man (left) looks through a telescope, a petit-maître (right) looks through an eye-glass. A monk, a Jesuit, and a man in a furred robe and cap resembling a magician or quack are among the spectators. From a circular tower (right) an ape looks through a telescope, on his right is an owl wearing bands, on his left a man wearing a mortar-board cap and bands.
In the background small figures run up a hill-side. 1 November 1783

Etching