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TLS, signed "Wilbur Wright" and "Orville Wright," two pages, 8.5 x 11, Wright Cycle Company letterhead, April 6, 1906. Letter to Commandant Bonel, acting agent for the French Minister of War in negotiations for a Wright Flyer, at the Hotel Beckel, Dayton, Ohio. In part: "Notwithstanding the failure to reach an agreement at our final conference last evening, we shall always remain very friendly to you and your country. The evident good faith of the French Minister of War has been shown both by depositing the 25,000 francs according to the terms of the option dated December 30, 1905, and also by officially delegating you to confer with us. The sincerity of your purpose in these negotiations and of Mr. Fordyce in the negotiations of last December have also been quite evident to us. Therefore it seems unfortunate that it has not been possible to reach an agreement that would insure to France a long continuance of that leadership in the aeronautical world which she has held since the great discovery of the Montgolfiers.
For these reasons we beg to state that we are not disposed to demand the payment of the 25,000 francs forfeit until we feel certain that there is no possible ground of agreement. If it should meet the approval of the Minister of War, we would be disposed to give favorable consideration to a proposition to ratify the last form of agreement submitted with one amendment making the exclusive period of one year, provided the United States government be excepted entirely, and another waiving the forfeiture of the 25,000 francs. If on your return to France this suggestion is not favorably received, we will then collect the forfeit and consider the present negotiation closed." In very good to fine condition, with some light creasing. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope.
On February 7, 1906, the Wright Brothers announced to the Aero Club of America: 'We have received word that the French were much pleased with the contract for the use of our flyer for government purposes, and that the contract has been confirmed.' As seen in the present letter, their celebratory announcement was premature, and negotiations continued for several more months. Here, they attempt to revive the deal by appealing to French national pride—citing their leadership in aeronautical activities since the Montgolfiers' development of the hot air balloon—and by conceding to the last proposed contract, so long as their exclusive right to the invention was reduced to a period of one year, and that the government of the United States as exempted from that provision. Although they still did not secure the deal, the brothers' persistence would pay off. In 1908, Wilbur Wright traveled to France and conducted a series of spectacular public demonstrations at Le Mans and other locations, silencing skeptics and finally securing lucrative contracts with the French government and private firms.
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