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Lot #396
Orville Wright Typed Letter Signed

Wright observes a universal humor: "Evidently the story fits the humorous side of both nationalities, and we shall have to find another one which is peculiarly American"

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Estimate: $1000+
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Description

Wright observes a universal humor: "Evidently the story fits the humorous side of both nationalities, and we shall have to find another one which is peculiarly American"

TLS, one page, 7.25 x 10.5, personal letterhead, December 21, 1933. Letter to Miss Florence Bergstrom, in full: "Thanks for your calling my attention to page 10 of the Literary Digest for December 9th and to the fact that Mr. Findley sometime before had written me the same things there related. Please have Mr. Findley tell you the story of the Englishman on the New York sightseeing bus. From this I think you can figure out how he came to be right in this Tich affair!

By the way, tell Mr. Findley also, that Mr. Brewer wrote me that he had tried this story on several English people, as Mr. Findley had suggested, and that he 'found them all react with true American humor. Evidently the story fits the humorous side of both nationalities, and we shall have to find another one which is peculiarly American, to make the test of value.'" In fine condition, with faint toning in the margins.

Earl N. Findley (1878-1956) was an Ohio-born journalist went into journalism 1903 and specialized in aviation. He met the Wright Brothers in 1908 and covered the 1st airplane flights in New York. In WW I, he was with the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps. Findley began editing U. S. Army Air Services, a monthly Washington DC-based aviation journal in February 1919, and became owner-publisher 1925.

Griffith Brewer (1867-1948) English balloonist, aviator and patent agent, a founding member of the Royal Aero Club. He became a friend of the Wright Brothers and was one of their main supporters. On 8 October 1908 at Camp d'Auvours, France, he flew as a passenger with Wilbur Wright, and became the 1st Englishman to go up in an aeroplane. He became a close friend and supporter of the Wrights, and made many trips to the US to visit them. Griffith gained his pilot license in 1914. He arranged that the British government should get use of the Wright's patents for £15,000 in 1914, which meant that British aircraft manufacturers were free of the threat of litigation. Griffith was President of the Royal Aeronautics Society 1940-42.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts
  • Dates: #699 - Ended September 11, 2024





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