Aero: America’s Aviation Weekly, Vol. II, Nos. 1-26 (April 8, 1911 – Sept. 30, 1911)
St. Louis: Aero Publication Company, 1911.
First Edition. Periodical. Quarto, [6], 1-[574] pp. 26 issues bound up in half-morocco over pebbled cloth boards, title in gilt on leather spine, patterned end papers; board edges quite rubbed and worn, hinges starting, but overall good and sound. Leather is dried, rubbed, and chipped on the spine. Previous owner name (“Donald MacIven Street”) in ink on flyleaf. The title page states “Aero Vol. I” and indicates that this is a “Supplement to Aero, Vol. III, No. 1, October 7, 1911.” A comprehensive two-page Index precedes the first issue. Good. Item #27786
The first weekly aeronautic publication in America (and the answer to the crossword clue, “Old magazine billed as ‘America's Aviation Weekly’”), Aero Magazine (later Aero and Hydro) was published from October 8, 1910 until November 14, 1914. Advertisers included the Wright Company, the Detroit Aeroplane Co., and many other big players in the early years of aviation. Articles included how-tos (“How to Build a Bleriot-Type Monoplane” by Laurence L. Prince), news (“Aero Mail-Carrying Begun at New York” by J. Herbert Duckworth), reports on aviation events and milestones (“Beachy Takes a Big Risk at Niagara Falls,” “U.S. Army has Eight Military Aviators”), letters to the editor (“The Cause of Air Pockets”), and announcements of all sorts, including directories of aviators, want ads, and much, much more (“French School of Aviation Now Open at Garden City Estate, Long Island,” “Propellor Hits Louisville Man,” Harry Atwood Calls on the President at the White House”).
The magazine features numerous individual authors. One prospective author, however, declined the privilege: The Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson University holds a secretarial response to Editor Edmond Percy Noël turning down his request for the former President to write for the publication, explaining that Roosevelt had taken up duties as a contributing editor for The Outlook, with the agreement that that magazine held the exclusive right to publish his work. Letter to Editor Noël held at the TR Center, Dickinson University.
Price: $750.00