Highly impressive archive of 20 items signed by some of history’s foremost aviation pioneers from America and Europe, consisting of letters, airmail covers, and vintage photographs that represent the evolution of aircraft design, flight skills, and manufacturing. The collection is highlighted by a First National Bank check, 8 x 3, filled out and signed by Charles Lindbergh, Sr., the father of the famed aviator, payable to his wife for $100, April 2, 1919. The check is endorsed on the reverse in fountain pen by Evangeline Lodge Land Lindbergh, who signs as “Mrs. C. A. Lindbergh,” with the opposite end also signed by their 12-year-old son, “C. A. Lindbergh, Jr.” This check, signed some three years before he began flight training, boasts a decidedly scarce and early version of Lindbergh’s signature; the pilot would later drop the suffix “Jr.” after his father died in 1924.
Another item of note is a vintage matte-finish 3.5 x 5.5 postcard photo of Louis Bleriot wearing his aviator cap, signed in the lower border in fountain pen, “L. Bleriot.” Bleriot was a French engineer and aviator (1872-1936) who made the first crossing of a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft when he flew across the English Channel in 1909. Photos signed by Bleriot are quite rare.
The balance of the archive is as follows:
Two items signed by Jimmy Doolittle: a TLS, Shell Union Oil Corporation letterhead, January 17, 1946, addressed to T. P. Sultan of the Brayton Flying Service, in part: “Don’t know exactly when I am going to be out St. Louis way, but will try to let you know far enough ahead so you can lay on a QB meeting.” Also included is a handsome matte-finish 7.5 x 9.5 photo of Doolittle in his military uniform, signed and inscribed in fountain pen, “To J. A. Blomgren: With sincere best wishes, J. H. Doolittle.”
An uncommon matte-finish 5.5 x 3.5 postcard photo of Farnum Fish seated in his aircraft, signed in fountain pen. Farnum Fish (1896 -1978) was an early American airplane pilot known as the ‘Boy Aviator,’ who, at the age of 15, was the youngest licensed aviator in the world.
A matte-finish 4 x 5.75 portrait of Earle Ovington, signed and inscribed in fountain pen, “To Carl M. Becker, from Earle Ovington, Lt. Cmdr. U.S.N.R.” Also includes two airmail covers commemorating his flights, both signed in fountain pen. Ovington was an American aeronautical engineer, aviator, and inventor, (1879-1936) who served as a lab assistant to Thomas Edison. Ovington piloted the first official airmail flight in the United States in a Blériot XI on September 23, 1911.
A pearl-finish 3.5 x 5.5 postcard photo of Louis Paulhan, signed in fountain pen. Paulhan was a pioneering French aviator (1883-1963) who is best known for winning the first Daily Mail aviation prize for the premiere flight between London and Manchester in 1910.
A matte-finish 7.5 x 9.5 portrait of Charles Rousch wearing his pilot’s cap, signed and inscribed in fountain pen. Also included are two airmail covers carried on two of Rousch’s flights, both signed in fountain pen. Rousch was a well-known airmail pilot who was killed when his plane crashed in Illinois in 1932.
A TLS from Claude Grahame-White, The London Aerodrome letterhead, dated May 5, 1914, forwarding a passbook to the manager of Messrs. Lloyds Bank Ltd. Also included with the letter: a souvenir menu for the first annual dinner at the London Aerodrome, held on March 20, 1914, signed inside by Grahame-White and other aviators and promoters, including the Earl of Lonsdale and Herbert Lionel Henry Vane-Tempest; an original program for the Blackpool Flying Carnival in 1910, one of the earliest airshows of its kind in Europe where Grahame-White was the star attraction; and an “Everything Aviatic” pamphlet published by Grahame-White in 1910 to promote his aviation company, one of the first of its kind. Grahame-White was an English pioneer of aviation (1879-1959) who was the first to make a night flight, a feat that occurred during the Daily Mail-sponsored 1910 London to Manchester air race.
An ALS from Jean Piccard, personal letterhead, November 10, 1944: “Yes, I am planning a new stratosphere flight as soon as possible after the war is over. I intend to have a cluster of many balloons and to go to a height of about 100,000 feet.” Includes a pamphlet for the dedication of the Piccard Balloon Collection at the University of Minnesota in 1981, with inside signed by members of the Piccard family, including two of his children. Piccard was a Swiss-born American chemist, engineer, professor and high-altitude balloonist, (1884-1963) who invented clustered high-altitude balloons, and with his wife Jeannette, the plastic balloon.
The archive also features six photos from the collection of Carl Brown Squier (1893-1967), a World War I aviation pioneer and the vice president of Lockheed Corporation who sold Charles Lindbergh his Sirius airplane in 1931. Each photo is signed by the pictured aviation pioneer, with four inscribed:
Ray Brown (ISP), who received an NAA award for being the first pilot to guide an airplane entirely by radio directional compass.
Bennett Griffin (ISP), aviator who in 1932 set a new record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
Dick Merrill and Jack Lambie (ISP), the pilot and co-pilot of a flight from New York to London on May 8-14, 1937, known as the ‘Anglo-American Goodwill Coronation Flight,’ which was recognized as the first commercial transatlantic round-trip flight; also included is an FDC signed by Merrill, who also served as Dwight D. Eisenhower's personal pilot during the 1952 presidential elections.
Charles Kingsford Smith (ISP), an early Australian aviator who, in 1928, made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia.
Carl Squier, Elmer C. McLeod, Marshall Hindle, and Currey Sanders (SP), executives and pilots at Lockheed Corporation.
Walter Thomas Varney (SP), an American aviation pioneer who founded forerunners of two major U.S. airlines, United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Includes an original negative of Varney flying ‘The Call’ aircraft, two letters detailing the birth of the airmail service that would become United Airlines, and four airmail covers carried on the first day of airmail service for the route from Pasco-Seattle-Portland in 1929. In overall fine condition.
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