Airmail: An Illustrated History 1793 to 1981

From the first airborne letter, written by George Washington and carried aboard a balloon from Philadelphia in 1793, to the complex network of air mail services we take for granted today, here is the complete story of the tremendous achievements of air mail entrepreneurs and aviators. These courageous men and women - including such celebrated personalities as Glenn Curtiss. Henry Ford, Katherine Stinson. Charles Lindbergh, Count von Zeppelin, and Antoine de Saint Exupery - built the air mail system despite underpowered airplanes and the lack of airfields, accurate weather charting, and parachutes.
With hundreds of postage stamps, covers, and other official markings reproduced in exacting color, dramatic black-and-white photographs of personalities and historic moments in air mail history (many never before published), and a detailed bibliography, this book will be an indispensable reference source for every aviation buff and philatelist.


by Donald B. Holmes
Published by Potter (USA) 1981 1st edition. 226pp profusely illustrated, index, bibliography. 26x26 v/good in slightly worn d/j.






Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "new edition" "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.