Langley's Memoir on Mechanical Flight 1911

Heading: (Aviation)
Author: Langley, Samuel Pierpont and Charles M. Manly
Title: Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight
Place Published: Washington, D.C.
Publisher:Smithsonian Institution
Date Published: 1911
Description:

x, [2], 320 pp. Illustrated with 101 numbered plates from photographs, diagrams, etc., including some double-page plus a loose official photograph as issued. 33.1x25.2 cm (13x10"), original gilt-lettered green cloth. First Edition.

Previous owner's bookplates and stickers on pastedowns. Important monograph on Langley's groundbreaking experiments with flight. Although he lost out to the Wright brothers in achieving the first powered manned flight, his experiments added greatly to the advancement of aviation. His attempts at flights over the Potomac River, with both miniature and full-size versions of his "Aerodrome" are fully chronicled and photographed, recording the numerous plunges into the icy water and detailing the apparatus. The portion covering the years 1887 to 1896 was written by Langley himself, that covering 1897 to 1903 by his assistant Charles M. Manly.
Condition Report: Light scuffing and wear to cloth, rubbing along joints and ends of spine with fraying; hinges cracked, textblock faintly toned; very good.