Print depicting the balloon ascent by James Sadler from outside the Mermaid Tavern in Hackney. The print shows a crowd of spectators, many looking through telescopes or waving their hats. Some people have climbed trees, the church tower or onto the roofs of houses to get a better view. At the bottom right of the image is a woman selling prints of the balloon to commemorate the occasion; the balloon itself is visible above the crowd, with two figures waving flags.
<p>This balloon ascended with Mr Sadler and Captain Paget of the Royal Navy from the Mermaid Gardens at Hackney in Middlesex at three o'clock on monday afternoon August the 12th 1811 and descended in a field near Tilbury fort in Essex at twenty minutes past four o'clock.
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Published Augt 21 1811 by J. Pitts No 1 Great St Andrew Street Seven Dials
J. Sadler
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