The Conquest of the Air : The Romance of Aerial Navigation

160pp, plus 24pp publisher's catalogue bound in at rear. Black and white plate frontispiece and several black and white illustrations. Brown cloth-covered boards with 3 colour and gilt decoration and lettering on spine and front. Generally worn, slight bumping to head and heel of spine, corners a little rubbed and rounded. Pages slightly tanned. Published the year before the Wright Brothers' famous successful flight, this volume presents a history of early aviation attempts, including chapters on early ballooning, long distance flight records, air ships, etc. Concluding chapter assesses the prospects for successful aviation, gathering opinions from some of the early pioneers such as Sir Hiram Maxim and Santos-Dumont. 12mo