[354] Already in 1769 an awning or other covering was placed over one of the walks, and “covered walks” are afterwards alluded to. The permanent colonnade was not erected till 1810.
[355] Some accounts say £28,000.
[356] Admission, three shillings and sixpence.
[357] This Prince’s Gallery was burnt down in 1800.
[358] Among the curious characters of Vauxhall Gardens must be noticed a youth named Joseph Leeming, who called himself “the Aeriel” and “the Paragon of Perfection,” and offered himself for inspection to artists and surgeons as a model of bodily perfection. On 2 July, 1825, and on subsequent occasions he mingled with the other visitors at Vauxhall and created excitement by his extraordinary Spanish costume and by distributing three or four hundred “Challenges” to the people in front of the orchestra. One of these curious challenges is in my collection. It is a small card printed with the words “The Aeriel (sic) challenges the whole world to find a man that can in any way compete with him as such. No.—.” (cp. Hone’s Every Day Book, i. p. 1456, ff.).
[359] An earlier balloon ascent from Vauxhall Gardens by Garnerin in 1802 may be noted.
[360] A detailed account of the voyage is given in Monck Mason’s Aeronautica, London, 1838.
[361] The publication came to an end on 23 August, 1841. It consisted of sixteen parts, sixpence each. A set of these is in my collection. Mr. H. A. Rogers, of Stroud Green, has recently undertaken an interesting facsimile reprint of this scarce little journal.
[362] This part of Tyers Street was formerly called Brunel Street.
[363] Punch for 21 August, 1869, “The Lament of the Colonnade.”