[A scientist from the Grand Academy of Lagado suggests a new method of construction] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [A scientist from the Grand Academy of Lagado suggests a new method of construction]
Subject: Construction; Learned Institutions and Societies; Scientists in Literature; Satire; Fictional Works; Fictitious Characters; Imaginary Places; Imaginary Creatures
Period: 1800-1850;
Geographic: Balnibarbi; England; Laputa
Description: Here we see a scientist from the Grand Academy on Balnibarbi’s hypothesis for a new manner of construction. This scientist’s suggestion was to build the house from the top down, starting with the roof and ending with the foundation. The roof would be held up by balloons during construction. The scientist claims he was inspired by the building methods of spiders and bees. Gulliver was quite impressed with this idea unlike many other ideas he saw at the Academy. The same image appears in the 1839 Krabbe edition.
Image Creator: Grandville (Illustrator)
Type: StillImage; Vignettes
Identifier: mta:21694
Language: ger
Source Name: Gulliver's Reisen in unbekannte Länder
Parent Collection: Gulliver's Reisen in unbekannte Länder Vol. II. Vignettes by Grandville (1843)
Image: mta_21694_OBJ.png