Although Charles Durant’s balloon ascensions in 1834 were far from the first public displays of balloon flight—the Montgolfier brothers first ascended in 1783; the first American ascension had occurred in Philadelphia in 1793; and Durant himself had been inspired by seeing Eugene Robertson’s ascension in New York City in 1824—they were still enough of a novelty to attract great public attention, especially since Durant was our first native-born balloonist. Prior to his arrival in Boston, Durant had made several ascensions from Castle Garden, an amusement park in New York, including one for President Andrew Jackson and six Native American war prisoners.

In Boston, a special amphitheatre was built near Charles Street and thousands of Bostonians gathered to watch Durant’s first ascension on 31 July, a near disaster requiring a water rescue, described by Durant in a pamphlet titled History of Air Balloons that he issued from the Tremont House Hotel to maintain the public’s interest as he awaited repairs to his balloon.

His balloon repaired, Durant made another ascension on 25 August, successfully landing near Mount Auburn, and a third and final one on 13 September, illustrated above and described in detail in a letter reprinted in the American Magazine:

… I think I never beheld so thrilling and animating a sight as was presented on approaching the city. The bay appeared alive with vessels and boats of all classes. From one of them came delightful music, and approaching the wharves so near as to hear the bells and voices of thousands of fellow beings, waving handkerchiefs and hats to welcome my return, produced a pleasing sensation, which you may better imagine than I can describe. I rose as I entered over the city to prevent danger from contact with steeples, though I passed sufficiently near to observe distinctly the movements of the inhabitants. … The voyage throughout was to me the most interesting one that I ever performed; it is my last from Boston this season, and if it has met the approbation of your citizens, I shall enjoy the pleasure of having contributed at least to the gratification of an intelligent community, whose many acts of kind and polite attention towards me, will forever leave a pleasing memento.

Soon after his successful flights over Boston, however, Durant abandoned aeronautics entirely.

Who was C.F. Durant?

Charles Ferson Durant was born in New York City in 1805. As a youth, he worked at Castle Garden in New York City, which is where he witnessed the balloon ascension of Eugene Robertson. After helping Robertson out of a jam, Durant followed him to France to learn the art and science of ballooning. Returning to the United States, he made several ascensions in New York, Boston, and Baltimore before abandoning ballooning in favor of silk culture and other scientific endeavors. He won awards for his silk production from the American Institute and the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association and wrote pamphlets on animal magnetism and hydraulics.

In 1850, Durant produced his masterpiece—Algology: Algae and Corallines of the Bay & Harbor of New York, a tome on the native seaweed and algae of New York illustrated with actual specimens collected and prepared by him. Not surprisingly, the labor involved in producing such a book was massive; Durant had planned on an edition of 50, but it is believed only about 20 were actually finished—at a cost of $2,000 (more than $75,000 today) and countless hours of labor. Ultimately, Durant did not have the heart to sell such a precious item and gave the copies away to cultural institutions and his children. The only known copy to have been sold was at a fair for sick and wounded Civil War soldiers.

What was the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge?

The American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge was a short-lived illustrated magazine published in Boston by the Boston Bewick Company—a group of wood engravers that included Abel Bowen, John H. Hall, Alonzo Hartwell, and John C. Crossman. The Bewick Company was named for English wood engraver Thomas Bewick, known for his illustrations of birds, quadrupeds, and Aesop’s Fables. He was one of the first wood-engravers to fully exploit the potential of the medium, providing detailed illustrations at a low cost. The Boston Bewick Company aimed to follow Bewick’s example, incorporating in 1834 “for the purpose of employing, improving, and extending the art of engraving, polytyping, embossing, and printing.”

The American Magazine likewise followed a British model, the Penny Magazine, which was being republished in both Boston and New York at the time and was one of a number of cheap, general knowledge magazines targeted to the general public. The difference, the editors explained, was that the American Magazine would “give to the public a work descriptive, not merely of subjects, scenes, places, and persons existing in distant climes, BUT ALSO OF THOSE WHICH ARE TO BE FOUND IN OUR OWN FINE AND NATIVE COUNTRY.” Each monthly issue comprised 40-48 pages and featured numerous engravings. Although Frank Mott’s A History of American Magazines is dismissive of the quality of the engravings, opining that the run of the journal contained “500 woodcuts, most of them pretty bad,” the journal did meet with popular success. The Bewick Company, unfortunately, went bankrupt after a fire in 1836, and the American Magazine ceased publication in 1837.