Model of 1878 tethered balloon rises to €l8,000 hammer
One of the biggest attractions at the Exposition Universelle, held in Paris in 1878, was Le Grand Ballon Captif, a huge tethered balloon, constructed by Baptiste Henri Jacques Giffard, a pioneer of airship travel.
He had already built hot air balloons for the Paris exhibition of 1867 and a year later his airship…