Victorian Paris photographed from the air: Amazing 1878 shots bring together two new technologies as they took the world by storm

• In 1852 the visionary's steam-powered airship made its first voyage, flying 16 miles from Paris to Trappes
• Just 26 years later, Giffard was making the dream of flight a reality for everyday people in this flying balloon
  

By Amanda Williams

Published: 15:34 EDT, 12 December 2012 | Updated: 08:20 EDT, 13 December 2012

In 1852 he made history with his pioneering flight in a steam powered airship.

By the time these photographs were taken in 1878, visionary inventor Henri Giffard was making the impossible possible for everyday men and women - the chance to see Paris from the air.

Installed in the courtyard of the Tuileries, Paris, and surrounded by tethering devices, large winches and ballast, this is one of the first passenger carrying air balloons.

It has been well over a century since humans achieved the phenomenon of flight. But in the days of steam and horse power, the mammoth airship would have been an alien sight indeed.

By the time these photographs of Paris were taken in 1878, it had been 26 years since Henri Giffard's pioneering powered flight in 1852

Giffard then set about sharing his with the masses. He took every day people to the air for their first flight aboard his tethered balloon

His invention offered the unimaginable - a view of Paris from the air. In this picture taken by a passenger, the streets of the city can be seen winding their way between war damaged buildings

A view over the River Seine, taken in 1878. The concept of air travel would have been an alien one to ordinary Parisians

They may be a common sight today, but in the days of steam and horse power the passenger carrying balloon would have been a bizarre concept

The excited passengers took these photographs as they flew over Paris, seeing the city as they could only have ever imagined it before.

The time worn pictures, given to the Library of Congress - the research library of the United States Congress - show a bird's eye view of the city.

Born in 1825, Giffard became an engineer and carried out research into air balloons.

Excited passengers - ready for the off - wave to onlookers. By the time these photographs of Paris were taken it had been just 26 years since Henri Giffard's pioneering powered flight

Passengers wait to board Giffard's balloon to have a bird's eye view over the city - a dream that had until recent years seemed impossible

Passengers and onlookers enjoy refreshments as they watch the balloon flight from a nearby building

Installed in the courtyard of the Tuileries, Paris, and surrounded by tethering devices, large winches and ballast, hundreds of men help control the balloon

Because unpowered balloons have little directional control, the airship is surrounded by tethering devices to provide a safe flight over the city and return

He eventually created the world's first passenger-carrying powered and steerable airship, called a dirigible.

The hydrogen-filled airship was equipped with a steam engine that drove a propeller, and a vertical rudder for navigation.

It made its first flight on September 24, 1852, travelling from Paris to Trappes and covering 16.78 miles at a speed of 5.6 mph.

Giffard also invented an injector to feed water into a steam-engine boiler to prevent it running out of steam when not in motion and the money from this invention bankrolled the building of another airship in 1855.

Unfortunately this was unsuccessful and crash-landed on its first flight.

But by 1878 Giffard had perfected his design, and created this passenger-carrying balloon.