Historic original photo album compiled by pioneering Collier's photojournalist Jimmy Hare, measuring 14.75 x 11.25, containing 54 original affixed silver gelatin photographs of the Wright Brothers' demonstration flights in 1908 and 1909, ranging in size from 4.25 x 3.25 to 6 x 4, many of which have been captioned in white ink. The album begins with a photo of four journalists, labeled: "Correspondents crossing sand dune to see if Wright Bros. are actually flying at Kill Devil Hill, N. C." Following are a series of images chronicling the setup of the Wright Flyer for launch using the 'Wright catapult,' involving a long rail and launch tower used to boost the initial speed of the plane to achieve sustained powered flight: images are identified as "The starting rail," "Placing 'plane on rail," "Adjusting the release," "About to start the engine," "Engine started, propellors working," and "Flying low." Various photos that follow show the aircraft in various states of flight, including a "Rear view of 'plane," "Underneath view," "Flying at various altitudes," "Turning corners," and "Landing rather heavily."
Among the early pilots and passengers depicted are Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Major George Owen Squier (who wrote the specifications for the Army’s first airplane, the Wright Flyer), and Thomas Selfridge, who became the first person to die in an airplane crash shortly after the photograph was taken (labeled "Last picture of Lieut. Selfridge before the accident"). Some other images show the crowd at the demonstration flight performed before President William H. Taft and congressional leaders at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, on July 29, 1909.
The photo album itself is in overall good to very good condition, with evidence of removal of several photographs, the black pages detached at the spine, and some wear and chipping to the covers and pages; the photographs themselves are fine, with some mild silvering to darker areas.
The very first photograph of the Wright Flyer in flight is, of course, the iconic 'First Flight' photo taken on December 17, 1903. But this iconic Wright photo was not published until four months after Hare's photos were published: the 'First Flight' image first appeared in the September 1908 issue of the Century Magazine, in an article entitled 'The Wright Brothers' Aeroplane' by Orville And Wilbur Wright.
Hare's earliest Wright Bros. photographs, taken at Kitty Hawk in 1908, were captured during the Wrights' preparations for the upcoming world debut of the Wright Flyer. Wilbur would depart for France before the month was out to demonstrate the airplane in Europe, a new-build Flyer shipped to France disassembled. Orville, in September, would be flying the flight trials for the U.S. Army at Fort Myer, Virginia—flights also documented within this album.
It is further accompanied by an eight-page handwritten manuscript in pencil, ostensibly in the hand of Jimmy Hare, attesting to his experience photographing the Wright Brothers' flights. In small part: "For many years I had been assured by admiring friends that I was the first photographer to get a picture of the Wright bros. in their aeroplane as it was called at that time, but of late years I have seen a photograph evidently made by the Wright Bros…but was not given out for publication until later. I still believe mine was the first published in the Collier's (or the most popular weekly of that time)." The manuscript has been edited in another hand, with various corrections throughout and sections struck through.
Jimmy Hare (1856–1946) was a leading photojournalist from 1898 to 1931, covering five major wars (Spanish-American War, Russo-Japanese War, Mexican Revolution, First Balkan War, and World War I). He was a driving force behind Collier's popularity as an illustrated weekly, and is also known for chronicling the evolution of early aircraft, his exotic photographs from Latin America and the Middle East, and his coverage of American presidents.
