7 replies to this topic

[Ian L-K]

I'm a historical re-enactor, mainly 16th to 18th Century. http://lycett-king.com/ if anyone wants to see what I look like. I do a bit of small scale pyrotechnic work and also get to fire various black powder weapons. As part of my research into the weaponry, particularly early cannon, I have found that fire-masters (experienced gunners) of the time would be expected to have some ability as pyrobolists (firework makers).
Display fireworks, as opposed to military rockets seem to have been around in Europe during the 13th and 14th Centuries, but I cannot find much mention of them in England before Elizabeth 1st.

I've got some recipes for 17th Century fireworks and intend to make some inert versions of them as an occasional part of my re-enactment display.
I'll give one set of instructions below and will add more if people are interested.
I'd appreciate the opinions of experienced, modern firework makers on the tecniques and compositions.
I'd also be interested in any information on early fireworks that you might have.


To make rockets.
The case.
Take a wooden rod, with length 8 times the diameter.
Roll paper tightly round the rod until the thickness is half an inch more than the rod.
Glue the top layer of the paper.
Remove the rod, wet the end of the paper.
Replace the rod half an inch into the wet end. Place a second rod in the other end to within a half inch of the first rod.
Tie a thread around the wet part at three quarters of an inch from the end and contract the paper to choke the bore down to a quarter of the original size.
Remove the rods and let it dry
Use a bodkin to widen the hole if it is drawn too tight.

The composition. Parts are by weight.
For rockets up to 3 ounces.
1 part charcoal dust to 8 parts gun powder
For rockets up to 10 ounces.
3 parts charcoal dust to 16 parts gun powder
For rockets up to 1 pound.
4 parts charcoal dust to 16 parts gun powder

There are more complicated recipes involving different proportions and grades of carbon, sulphur and salt-petre for larger rockets.
e.g. For rockets from 50 to 100 pounds
3 parts salt-petre, 1 part sulphur, 1 part coal.

To fill the case.
Place a piece of paper in the case to cover the choked end of the tube
With a knife, put into the tube as much as you can of the composition.
Insert a rammer and use a hammer or weight to give it three or four indifferent knocks.
Repeat until the case is full to within 1 bore diameter of of the top.
Put in a piece of pasteboard, knock it in hard.
Prick three or four little holes in the pasteboard.
Fill the tube almost to the top with fine gunpowder
Cover with a paper cap.
Cover with a leather cap which is glued and tied to the case.
Tie on a straight twig, which when held two or three fingers breadths from the nozzle, will balance the rocket.

Firing.
Prick the nozzle end with a bodkin
Balance the rocket so that the nozzle is over a flat dry place, e.g. on a gun carriage wheel.
Lay a powder trail under it.
Give fire

[Mortartube]

I would recommend that you read A History Of Fireworks St Alan St Hill Brock, if you can find a copy. It outlines a lot about the history of fireworks and mentions that master gunners were required to make fireworks for special displays. You may also find A history of Greek Fire and Gunpowder of interest by Partington. A bit heavy going but of invaluable interest for reasearch.

Edited by Mortartube, 26 November 2009 - 11:53 PM.

[phildunford]

The older formula generally work fine, but lack mainly the colours available to later pyrotechnists. The other thing to watch out for is the use of unobtainable, very expensive, or poisenous ingredients.

To state the not entirely obvious, when 'coal' is mentioned in old formula it means charcoal. I'm not aware of real coal ever having been used in fireworks.

[Mortartube]

The older formula generally work fine, but lack mainly the colours available to later pyrotechnists. The other thing to watch out for is the use of unobtainable, very expensive, or poisenous ingredients.

To state the not entirely obvious, when 'coal' is mentioned in old formula it means charcoal. I'm not aware of real coal ever having been used in fireworks.

The only use of coal in pyrotechnics that I know of, is Anthracite was sometimes used in old smoke formulae, to produce a brownish black colour.

[crystal palace fireworks]

Your right Ian,..according to `Brocks` book (pages 29 to 38)...as mentioned by motartube) there seems to be very little in the way of defined descriptions of pyro devices or its history before elizebeths 1 reign (1533 to 1603).

Might be worth checking out `Vanuzzio Biringuccio` book called `Pyrotechnia` published in 1540,..or my advice would be to investigate the history of `The Crusaders` or `Marco Polo` or perhaps find out who were the military generals etc for that period (there might be private papers/collections that hold these facts).

Have you visited or contacted some of the following;(they might give you leads)

The Gunpowder Mills in Waltham Abbey, Essex.

The Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich London

The British Library,

Bodin Library in Oxford or the National Archives in Kew

Edited by crystal palace fireworks, 27 November 2009 - 04:07 PM.

[Ian L-K]

Thanks for the book information. I'll be looking out for those.
At present I have The Compleat Gunner, mostly artillery matters but with a section on making fireworks. it gives references to books by a Mr. Bate and a Mr. Babington.
I've found the one by John Babington, Pyrotechnia, 1635 but there is no title for Mr Bate's book.
There's a scanned version of Pyrotechnia online but each page has to be selected, magnified and then downloaded individually. There are 376 pages so it will take a while to get them. If anyone wants it I'll try to make it available when I've got it all.

Re the suggestions from Crystal Palace Fireworks.
Waltham Abbey. I've been there a couple of times doing Napoleonic events. They've got some good displays on making and transporting powder but I didn't see anything on non-military usage. It's a bit out of my way now as I'm in Devon. I used to live in St Albans so it was a local excursion then.

R.A. Museum. Much the same as Waltham Abbey. I'm ex R.A. so I've been there a few times. I even got some bits to repair a 25 pounder from them.
Good for cannon, which was why I went, but the only fireworks were Congreve rockets.

Haven't tried the libraries yet, but now with some possible book titles I'll see what they've got.

[Arthur Brown]

Look on www.abebooks.co.uk ! I put Bate and fireworks in and this is the first and only entry!

The Booke Of Extravagants: Wherein amongst others, is principally contrived divers excellent and approved Medicines for severall maladies.
Bate, John.
Bookseller: Krown & Spellman, Booksellers
(Culver City,, CA, U.S.A.)
Bookseller Rating: 4-star rating
Price: £ 374.36
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Book Description: Thomas Harper for Ralph Mab, London: 1635., 1635. 4to. 2H2-4, 2I-2O4. [2], 237-288p. Second Edition. Modern calf, some finger-soiling. Numerous woodcuts. Bate, John (fl. 1626Ð1635), writer on mechanics, is an obscure figure; his birth and death dates, parentage, and virtually all personal details remain unknown. Bate's The Mysteries of Nature and Art (1634) is the first comprehensive illustrated English book on waterworks and hydraulic machinery. It also includes sections on drawing, painting, recipes, and folk remedies, as well as [b]one on fireworks and incendiary devices largely derivative of earlier English and continental works on the subject. A second, greatly expanded edition in 1635 was followed by a third edition, printed in 1654, which has few changes from the second edition. STC 1578. ESTC s101060. Philip, Fireworks, B050.2. Ferguson, Secrets,VI,15. Toole-Stott 82. Hall 21. Bookseller Inventory # 19818


my bolds. At £375 for the only spare copy in the world it's expensive, but there might be a copy in a major library now you have the name.

For a second search Babington and fireworks-


Stock Photo
PYROTECHNIA OR A DISCOURSE OF ARTIFICIAL FIRE-WORKS 1635 (ISBN: 1847348378 / 1-84734-837-8)
John Babington, Gunner
Bookseller: Naval and Military Press Ltd
(Uckfield, East Sussex, UK, United Kingdom)
Bookseller Rating: 5-star rating
Price: £ 11.50
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Book Description: 2008 N & M Press reprint of 1635 original Edition. SB. 72pp Illustrated When this book was first published in 1635, fireworks were a relative novelty in the western world - although invented by the Chinese in ancient times. The author, 'an inferior gunner' in the military service of Charles I, wrote his treatise on making fireworks for pleasure to please his superior officer, the Earl of Newport, Master of the King's Ordnance, to whom it is fulsomely dedicated. Babington writes in a clear 'how to' style, and includes instructions - and delightful diagrams and illustrations - on making and lighting many types of fireworks familiar to us today, including rockets and Catherine wheels. There are many more elaborate fireworks listed too, including instructions for making a Royal coat of arms in fire; and directions for staging a duel between a St George and a fire-breathing dragon. One of the oldest titles ever published by the Naval & Military Press, this beautifully illustrated and instructive volume well-deserves its accolade by fireworks expert Chris Phillips as 'The most important work in the bibliography of fireworks'. Bookseller Inventory # 10721

This is of course a reprint of recent or current times, as reflected in the price. Also there is an ISBN so if you cannot do direct purchase then your local bookseller may help.

[Ian L-K]

I think I'll give the Bates book a miss, it's a little out of my price range. There is at least one other copy for sale by the way, but that's on for £12,500 I've found a reference to it elsewhere and that also says the fireworks section is derivative of earlier English and European books. Pity it doesn't say which ones.
I've also found a site that shows some extracts from the book, http://special.lib.g...th/nov2003.html
The fireworks part of the content looks very similar to what is in Babington's book.


I've managed to get the Pyrotechnia by Babington. Or at least the first 88 pages, which is the part dealing with fireworks. The remaining 280 pages are about Geometry, including over 200 pages of mathematical tables. Interesting from the gunnery point of view but I think the Compleat Gunner is better.

The Pyrotechnia fireworks section runs at 140 Mb as a set of jpgs. A bit too big for email but if anyone wants it I'll put it on a file sharing site.