Montgolfier Family Library Catalogue

At the request of an acquaintance, Alphonse de Montgolfier created Catalogue des Livres des Aérostats in 1883. Handwritten in French cursive, the catalogue begins with an introductory letter and then alphabetically records materials held in the Montgolfier family archives relating to Aérostats and their inventors - items likely amassed by his aviation ancestors Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier.

The National Air and Space Museum Archives received this catalogue as a transfer from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, who first obtained it - as a gift or purchase - from the Library of Congress. This transfer likely happened in 1966. From its second bookplate, it can be assumed that the Library of Congress procured the catalogue with the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for Aeronautics. The Library of Congress used this fund between 1926 and 1930 to facilitate technical development, improve safety, and expand the popularity of aviation. In 1930, the fund purchased books, manuscripts, and illustrations of The Tissandier Collection from Maggs Brothers of London. From the "Ex Libris" bookplate, it can be postulated that the bibliographic inquest resulting in this catalogue came at the request of French chemist, aviator, and editor Gaston Tissandier (1843-1899) while collecting information for his aeronautic bibliography later published in 1887. The preface of this bibliography, titled Bibliographie aéronautique: catalogue de livres d'histoire, de science, de voyages et de fantaisie, traitant de la navigation aérienne ou des aérostats, further supports this conclusion when Tissandier cited consulting the catalogues of various private holdings and specifically noted the library of "M. le colonel de Montgolfier." Alphonse de Montgolfier (1831-1897) was a lieutenant-colonel, public figure, and great-grandnephew of the aviation pioneers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. As the head of the eldest branch, de Montgolfier became the heir of his family's heritage and memories, which he maintained at his historical property Varagnes-le Bas, colloquially known as Varagnes-les-Annonay, in their small ancestral town of Annonay in southern France. Although written by de Montgolfier in 1883, it was likely his aviation ancestors who collected the materials itemized in Catalogue des Livres des Aérostats.