Shelley on the newfangled Hot Air Balloon in 1811, having witnessed a balloon ascent from Christchurch Meadows in Oxford: “The balloon has not yet received the perfection of which it is surely capable; the art of navigating the air is in its first and most helpless infancy; the aerial mariner still swims on bladders, and has not yet mounted the rude raft… It would seem a mere toy, a feather, in comparison with the splendid anticipations of the philosophical chemist. Yet it ought not to be altogether condemned. It promises prodigious faculties for locomotion, and will allow us to traverse vast tracts with ease and rapidity, and to explore unknown countries without difficulty.”

This extra-special, double-sided, foldy concertina card is of 300gsm smooth ivory uncoated stock, litho-printed in England in vegetable oil-based colours that are friendly to the environment. It has no message. You can write your own message on the special panel provided.

When folded, this card measures 90 mm wide x 180 mm tall. Each card is supplied with a cream diamond flap envelope, and is individually wrapped in cellophane.