adventure

Grace Greylock Niles was a botanist, teacher, collector, photographer, free spirit, swamp-explorer, writer, and nature enthusiast. This fascinating and beautifully illustrated book opens the readers' eyes and mind to a world of natural beauty that few would dare to explore. A native of Vermont, the author spent decades exploring the flora and fauna of the northeast, but her special interest in orchids inspired her tireless “bog-trotting.”

One of the finer examples of illustrative fantasy reminiscent of a Jules Verne story, this sheet music march from 1907 is in excellent condition.  It is from the Bella C. Landauer Collection of Aeronautical Sheet Music in the National Air and Space Museum Library.  

Volume II of this two volume chronicle tells the story of the American volunteer pilots who served in the French Army’s Lafayette Escadrille (or squadron) during the First World War. The volumes include pilot biographies, photos, and several illustrations. It was written by Escadrille volunteer pilots James Norman Hall and Charles Bernard Nordhoff. The two men formed a successful writing partnership after the war that included works such as the well-known novel Mutiny on the Bounty, published in 1932.

Volume I of this two volume chronicle tells the story of the American volunteer pilots who served in the French Army’s Lafayette Escadrille (or squadron) during the First World War. The volumes include pilot biographies, photos, and several illustrations. It was written by Escadrille volunteer pilots James Norman Hall and Charles Bernard Nordhoff. The two men formed a successful writing partnership after the war that included works such as the well-known novel Mutiny on the Bounty, published in 1932.

The catalog record for these two oversize British editions, published in the 1930s by an oil company, doesn’t do justice to the plentiful color illustrations of aircraft, engines, and their interior structure. The illustrations include several flip-up sections that reveal the aircraft “insides” and would be appreciated by audiences of any age who want to view this almost 90 year old “modern” technology.

Jerrie Mock was the first woman to fly solo in her own aircraft around the globe in 1964. Her story of that feat and her life as a pilot are part of her book. This copy includes her inscription and a child’s own note in the front pages. Jerrie Mock’s aircraft that she used to fly around the world and her personal papers are in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

This type of book, an illustrated flora, is an example of the core collection of worldwide floras the Botany and Horticulture Library has in its 100,000 plus volume collection. Floras are limited-print scientific texts used by botanists throughout the world for plant identification and to answer botanical nomenclature questions. This book describes 600 plants, their characteristics, and medicinal effects. Additionally, it shows 117 plants with black and white illustrations. The author is a scientist and as well as a botanical artist.

First published in 1863, this 1869 English translation edition of the Jules Verne balloon adventure is in good overall condition, including the illustrations. This copy was once owned by famed collector and ephemera expert, Bella C. Landauer. Mrs. Landauer's collection of aeronautical sheet music is a gem held by the National Air and Space Museum's Library. Her bookplate, noting her simply as "BCL," is on the inside front cover.

This book came to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Library from the now defunct Panama Canal Zone Library, one of the most important libraries in Panama during the Canal Zone era.

This beautifully illustrated monograph describes the excavation and research of an ancient Ixil Maya Indian town in a Guatemalan valley. The archeologists involved in this project describe their field work and findings with scholarly attention to detail, but also with obvious enthusiasm for their discoveries. The Discussion chapter highlights their fascination with ongoing exploration to fill in the historical blanks.

One of the Golden Busy People Book series published in 1968 for children, this volume shows what an astronaut experiences in training, testing, and the launch and recovery process. As expected with this type of book, it has been well-used and needs some preservation care. Unlike most Golden Book publications, this book measures 16 inches tall and 6½ inches wide. 

This fanciful work by a popular author of children’s stories, histories, and genealogy is a “Mother Goose” style rhyme and story which was published in 1902. It depicts children and their families being visited by children from the moon and their adventures together. It is amply illustrated, but in need of extensive preservation treatment. It is part of the National Air & Space Museum Library's collection of fiction works that focus on fantasies about life on other worlds.

With classic British understatement, Harold Maxwell-Lefroy (1877-1925) describes this two-volume, 800 page guide as an “imperfect” attempt to describe the insects of the Indian subcontinent. Published in 1909, Indian Insect Life is “largely a product of [Maxwell-Lefroy’s] spare time and scanty holidays.” One wonders what he would produce if he were able to devote his full time and energy.

Zélie Isabelle Colville (1864-1930) was an aristocratic, class-conscious, sheltered woman of her time and place. Accompanied by her husband Major-General Henry E. Colville, she circumnavigated Africa. The trip was marked by hardship, sickness, even danger, but as her husband wrote, “If she is as good at writing as she is at roughing it, we have a treat before us.” Indeed! She describes Africans and Europeans—their clothing and manner, with a close eye for the personal detail and a tolerant sense of humor.