James "Balloon" Tytler (1745, Fearn, Angus - 11 January 1804, Salem, Massachusetts) was a Scottish aviator (aeronaut) and an editor of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
Tytler trained as a surgeon and initially worked as a pharmacist, but is most notable as the editor of the second edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, which was published between 1776 and 1784.[1] Albeit an eccentric drunkard, Tytler was hired by Colin Macfarquhar since he was a swift, excellent writer[2] and willing to work for a very low wage.[1]
Tytler was the first person in Great Britain to fly a hot air balloon, making a flight over Edinburgh in 1784. However, Tytler was overshadowed by Vincenzo Lunardi — the self-styled "Daredevil Aeronaut" — who carried out five sensational launches in Scotland that created a ballooning fad and inspired ladies' fashions in skirts and hats. The "Lunardi bonnet" is mentioned in the poem To a Louse by Robert Burns.
Tytler began to edit the third edition of the Britannica but, in 1793, was indicted for sedition by the High Court of Justiciary and was forced to flee Scotland, first to Ireland and then to the United States. He died in 1804 and is buried in Salem, Massachusetts; an ironic resting-place, considering that he did not mention the American Revolution in the second edition of the Britannica.[3]
   | BBC News article - BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Take off for balloonist project |
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