Paris, Au Siège de la Société Astronomique de France, 1928. Grand in-8 broché, VII-(1)-96 pp., couverture rouge à dos muet.
Reference : 16270
Edition originale. Envoi autographie signé de l'auteur.* Voir photographie(s) / See the picture(s). * Membre du SLAM et de la LILA / ILAB Member. La librairie est ouverte sur rendez-vous.
Chez les Libraires Associés
MM. Alban Caussé et Jacques Desse
3 rue Pierre l'Ermite
75018 Paris
France
01 42 57 20 24
Conformes aux règles du SLAM (Syndicat de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne) et de la LILA (Ligue Internationale de la Librairie Ancienne).
Paris, 1930 + 1928. Two 8vo-volumes. In a nice custommade leather-backed cloth-box with gilt lettering to front: ""Space Travel/ Robert Esnault-Pelterie"". L'astronautique: Uncut and unopened in original red printed wrappers (mounted with thick paper on inside of wrappers), spine restored, no loss of lettering. (4), 248, (2) pp. (in between pages 4 and 8, which are both numbered are actually 2 leaves, i.e. 4 pp. that are unnumbered""one is only printed on recto and one only on verso (errata) + 9 large folded plated. L'exploration de la très haute atmosphère et la possibilité des voyages interplanétaires: Uncut and unopened in the original printed wrappers (L'Astronomie, Revue mensuelle d'astronomie...). A few closed tears to spine and restoration to lower margin of front wrapper, far from affecting text. A fine copy. VII, (1), 96 pp.
First edition, presentation-copy, of the first text-book on rocketry and space-craft, together with the first edition of the important text of Esnault-Pelterie's 1927-symposium on the possibility of interplanetary travel. L'Astronautique with signed presentation-inscription to page 9: ""With compliments / Esnault / Oct 1932"". ""Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (1881 - 1957) was a pioneering French spaceflight theorist and aircraft designer. He combined a mixture of theoretical and practical work and is well known for being the inventor of the control stick of the aeroplane. He was furthermore the fourth man in France to obtain the pilot's license.""L'Astronautique outlined the key steps involved in the launching of an Earth satellite, interplanetary travel and rockettrajectories. Esnault-Pelterie began building his own rocket engine early the following year [1931]. In 1932 a rocket engine experiment went horribly wrong when the tetranitromethane fuel with which he was working exploded and he lost four fingers."" (Harvey, Brian. Europe's Space Programme: To Ariane and Beyond, Springer, 2003, 3 pp.)Besides being remembered as a spaceflight-pioneer, Esnault-Pelteries has given name to the Esnault-Pelterie-crater on the Moon. ""In the 1937 universal exhibition he stages an 'Astronautics Hall' and his moon rocket became the basis of Tin Tin's cartoon moon rocket."" (Ibid., 4 pp.) L'Astronautique: Norman 715 (""Esnault-Pelterie's most important contribution to rocketry"")""L'exploration par fusées de la très haute atmosphère et la possibilité des voyages interplanétaires"" is based on a symposium given by Esnault-Pelterie to the french Astronautics Society on June 8, 1927. - issued as the ""Supplément au Bulletin de Mars 1928"" of ""L'Astronomie. Revue mensuelle d'astronomie de Météorologie et de Physique du Globe et Bulletin de la Société Astronomique de France.Richard Green 105.
P., Bulletin de la Société Astronomique, 1928, un volume in 8 broché, couvertures imprimées, (premier plat de couverture défraîchi avec manque de papier en bordure et dans l'angle inférieur, dos renforcé au SCOTCH), 7pp., (1pp.), 96pp.
---- EDITION ORIGINALE ---- RARE ---- "Esnault-Pelterie fut un ardent propagateur de l'idée des voyages dans l'espace et l'on peut dire aujourd'hui que l'astronautique moderne est issue des travaux théoriques de Oberth et d'Esnault-Pelterie...". (En Français dans le texte N° 362) ---- "One of the earliest and really serious papers on interplanetary travel and on the exploration of the upper atmosphere, by means of rockets. Esnault-Pelleterie's study is independent of the slightly earlier treatise, in German, by Oberth, which he states he had not seen. The author devotes special attention to the problem of the escape velocity necessary to overcome the earth's gravitational pull, which he estimates at 10.000 meters per second. It was Esnault-Pelterie who coined the term Astronautics for the science of space flight. The present paper appeared as special supplement of the Bulletin de la Société Astronomique de France, année 42, with a separate half-title and title-page". (Interlibrum The moon in science and fiction N° 113) ---- Norman N° 714 ed. en librairie**1991/L3