BALLOONOMANIA BELLES: Daredevil Divas

The much-hyped ascent of the Montgolfier balloon in 1783 ushered in a century and a half of balloon frenzy. Perhaps surprisingly, women were at the centre. By 1784 a queue to be the first woman in the sky had formed and the honours went to four aristocratic Parisian ladies, while two weeks later an opera singer ascended in Lyon and treated the crowds to the rendering of an aria. The King of Sweden was present to watch and the event was a diplomatic success, though the descent involved some ignominy. Once the initial excitement of flight died down, new methods of maintaining public interest included promoting the spectacle of women climbing into a balloon and having their skirts blown about, while the language of ballooning was a gift for cartoonists with its many double entendres. By 1785 the fever had spread to England, where the redoubtable Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, asked the Prince of Wales to support her plea to be the first female balloonist. The entrepreneur Count Zambeccari chose Miss Grice, but she proved too heavy for the balloon which also included the Count and a wealthy sponsor, so she was summarily, though metaphorically, dropped. The lightweight 14-year-old Rosine Simonet, followed by her sister Leonora, took flight from British soil, but the first British woman in the air was a well-known actress called Letitia Sage who wowed her fans with plunging necklines and vaudeville razzmatazz. Letitia ascended with the naturalist George Biggin as her only companion, and members of Brooks's Club immediately started betting on the possibility of having sex 1000 yards from the earth. Balloon fever spread to America, with trapeze artist Leonora Dare making a living with spectacular aerobatics. Finally with the advent of aeroplanes a new thrill took over. 16.5 x 24 cm, 175pp, photos.