July 2, 1869 Airship Flight Albumen Carte de Visite Photograph Depicting the "Avitor Hermes Jr." by inventor Frederick Marriott (1805-1884) of the First Unmanned Aircraft to fly under Its own power in the United States, Photographed Near San Francisco, with printed reverse maker’s identification by Thomas Houseworth & Co., San Francisco, Very Fine.
This rare and evocative Albumen Carte de Visite Photograph captures the airship “Avitor Hermes Jr.” by inventor Frederick Marriott at its test hangar near San Francisco, the cigar-shaped outer “envelope cover” is rendered with period photo clarity. The airship’s internal rib structure and rigging lines are clearly visible against the sky, suspended above its delicate wing and propeller undercarriage. A substantial group of well-dressed gentlemen stand clustered beneath and around the aircraft's undercarriage. They are engaged in preparing or simply admiring this extraordinary technological achievement. Conveying the genuine sense of occasion and scientific curiosity that surrounded Marriott's experiments. The image measures about 3.75" x 2.25" mounted to its original period card stock. This photograph retains its early outdoor original clarity.
FREDERICK MARRIOTT (1805-1884) one of the most remarkable and under-appreciated pioneers in the early history of American aviation. Born in Enfield, England, Marriott pursued a varied early career touching the East India Company and the Bank of England before establishing himself as a publisher, eventually relocating to Gold Rush era San Francisco, where he founded the influential San Francisco News Letter.

It was in California that Marriott's lifelong fascination with powered flight found its fullest expression, leading him to found the Aerial Steam Navigation Company and to design and construct the AVITOR HERMES JR., an experimental cigar-shaped airship measuring about 37 feet in length with an overall width of 14 feet, intended as a proof-of-concept test model for a far more ambitious proposed passenger-carrying airship.

The Avitor was powered by a compact steam engine featuring a single two-inch-diameter cylinder with a three-inch stroke, generating approximately eight pounds of steam to drive twin two-bladed propellers, each four feet in diameter, mounted within a pair of flat supporting wings.

On its test flights near San Francisco in the summer of 1869, the “Avitor Hermes Jr.” achieved sustained unmanned powered flight, a genuine technological milestone that predates the Wright Brothers' achievement at Kitty Hawk by some 34 years. It represents, by the documentation of institutions including the University of Southern California Special Collections, the first official powered unmanned aircraft to fly under its own power anywhere in the United States.
[Gilded Age, 19th Century America, Aviation History] [Frederick Marriott, Early Aircraft, San Francisco] [Photography, Carte De Visite]