Émile Bayard's Man Falls from Balloon Gondola, Jules Verne's 'A Drama in the Air'

This dramatic engraving illustrates the climactic scene of Jules Verne's short story 'A Drama in the Air' (Un Drame dans les airs), in which a deranged balloonist causes a companion to plunge to his death after casting off ballast and lines mid-flight. The figure tumbles headlong through swirling clouds while the damaged balloon and its trailing basket recede above — a striking, vertiginous composition typical of Verne's early illustrated 'Voyages Extraordinaires' editions.