ALS in German, signed “Gv Zeppelin,” one page, 9 x 11.5, April 4, 1903. Letter to the financier of his airship project. In full (translated): “Will you kindly take note of my parting words printed on the reverse of the page. I am outlining therein the reasons that are forcing me to abandon my endeavors in the development of the dirigible airship.
Making this decision even more painful to me is the fact that I now won’t be in a position to repay with interest the most generous contribution Your Honor already provided to the development of this project.
My share of the liquidation proceeds that Your Honor had so generously advanced on my behalf to the Corporation for the Promotion of Aviation, will be disbursed as soon as the materials at hand can be utilized.
Already my personal investments exceed by far half of the one Million Mark of projected total cost. Responsibilities towards my own family, however, absolutely prevent me from further sinking any additional funds into that project.
Indeed, if I were somehow able to raise the needed amount of roughly 35,000 Mark, I would not hesitate to do so. The potential for a multiple fold return considering the extra ordinary value my vehicles would achieve over the long term, free of any competition, would seem virtually assured. This value only in the last few days significantly increased, as further tests of the steering system resulted in extending flight duration to more than 10 days, and flight distance to over 10,000 km.
Wishing to express my sincere gratitude for all your support extended to my undertaking, which at least for science is preserved, therefore not a complete loss” Second integral page bears a printed letter, signed in type by Zeppelin, and dated February 1903.
In very good condition, with partial separations along central horizontal and vertical fold, pencil notations along top edge, and scattered light toning and soiling.
Zeppelin paints an unfortunate picture in this letter, when after more than a decade of work and only three years after taking to the air with his first dirigible, he was forced to dissolve the Corporation for the Promotion of Aviation—the now-bankrupt German company he created to build the airship. Despite his attempt via this letter to solicit another contribution to continue his work, noting that “if I were somehow able to raise the needed amount” it would provide his benefactor with “the potential for a multiple fold return considering the extra ordinary value my vehicles would achieve over the long term,” such requests were only met with mockery. The king of Prussia was one of the few people who subscribed to the idea, allowing Zeppelin to design and construct other vessels that did indeed revolutionize air travel. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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