The Spirit of St. Louis
London: John Murray, 1953. Octavo, black leather binding with gilt spine lettering and marbled paper, xii, 530 pp., nine double-sided plates, illustrated with diagrams. New leather binding crafted by a master binder, new free-endpapers, mild foxing on preliminary leaves, otherwise a fine copy. First edition. An account of Charles Lindbergh's nonstop solo flight, first of its generation, from Long Island, New York, to Le Bourget, near Paris in 1927. He flew the Spirit of St. Louis whose name is an homage to the businessmen from St. Louis, Missouri, who sponsored Lindbergh's project. The book is divided into two sections. In the first part, The Craft, Lindbergh explains how the Ryan NYP was developed from the first blueprints to the building of the aircraft itself and with all the challenges he faced including the difficult of finding proper funding. In the second section, New York to Paris, Lindbergh provides an hour-by-hour account of his thirty-three hour flight and gives his insights on the numerous hardships presented by navigation, lack of sleep, fuel calculation, and storms. This account is often interspersed with Lindbergh's childhood memories and the years he spent in Little Falls, Minnesota, and how he came to be attracted to aviation and the ignition of his desire to fly.
The copy's original binding was completely redesigned in favour of a more sophisticated leather binding with marbled paper by a master binder. This copy would make an exquisite addition to a library. Item #4878
Price (AUD): $350.00