Jeffries, John A Narrative of the Two Aerial Voyages of Doctor Jeffries... (George Washington's copy)
High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.
A high-resolution version of this object is available for registered users. LOG IN
Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04936 Author/Creator: Jeffries, John Place Written: London, England Type: Book signed Date: 1786 Pagination: 62 p. ; 26.8 x 22 cm. Order a Copy
"A narrative of the two aerial voyages of Doctor Jeffries with Mons. Blanchard; with meterological observations and remarks...." Printed for the author. Small folio format, signed on the titlepage by George Washington. Handsome tree-calf binding. With handsome frontispiece engraving of Jeffries. Jeffries had been a Loyalist who went to England where he pursued research on air, its properties and balloons. After this flight, he went to Paris, dined with Franklin and met John Paul Jones. He returned to Boston in 1790. In 1794, Blanchard came to America and in Philadelphia, with Washington's blessing, made the first balloon ascent in America. There are two corrections in an unknown contemporary hand on the engraved endpiece on page 60, identification of Jeffries, has been changed from "Britanicus" to "Americanus" in the Latin and "Anglais" to "Americain" in the French. Athenaeum Catalog (1897) p. 550 (item 11 in the GW's estate inventory).
Signer of the U.S. Constitution.
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.