7 - [AERONAUTICS]. DUPUY DE LÔME, Laurent. Note on the Propeller-Driven Airship.

[AERONAUTICS]. DUPUY DE LÔME, Laurent. Note on the Propeller-Driven Airship. First edition of this treatise presented to the Academy of Sciences in 1870, describing the design and testing of the very first propeller-driven airship funded by the French government, with 9 large fold-out plates showing technical cross-sections of this famous airship. Paris, Firmin Didot, 1872. In-4 (290 x 230 mm), sky-blue half-basane, ribbed spine decorated with the title and the author’s name in gold lettering, covers preserved (later binding). 67 pages, 9 fold-out plates with captions opposite. Spine faded, with scratches and scuffing, some missing material on the spine, and a few minor foxing spots. First edition of this memoir presented to the Academy of Sciences in 1870 by the renowned naval engineer Henri Dupuy de Lôme, describing the design and testing of the very first propeller-driven airship funded by the French government. It is illustrated with nine remarkable fold-out plates showing technical cross-sections, overview diagrams, the gondola, the propeller, and mechanical details of this airship, which took off from the courtyard of the Fort de Vincennes on February 2, 1872, and landed near Noyon two hours later, marking a decisive step toward controlled flight. A fine copy, complete with its plates.