early 20th century

This is a charming account of the author’s impressions of Central American natural and social geography in the early 20th century. Carleton Beals was a progressive journalist who traveled extensively throughout Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, during times of political and social strife in the 1920s and 30s. The Art Deco illustrations of Carlos Merida beautifully complement the picturesque descriptions of small village life and the tropics.

Note: From the library of Alexander Wetmore, Sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

This volume tells the story of three French Army officers' balloon expedition through the Peking (Beijing) and Tientsin (Tianjin) areas of China, in 1900 and 1901. Published in 1902, the book includes 41 photographic plates of aerial images of that region of Imperial China, as well as many extraordinary sights on the ground. This rare volume (only 25 copies were printed) is part of the William A. M. Burden aviation book collection donated to the Smithsonian, one of the foundations of the rare book collection in the National Air and Space Museum Library. 

Le Royaume de l'Air, or the “Kingdom of the Air,” was published in Paris in 1909, during the first decade of machine-powered aircraft flight. It was written for young readers and includes plentiful illustrations and photographs documenting the historical development of aeronautics and contemporary innovations in this new technology. There are very few copies in libraries, and the Smithsonian is fortunate to have two in its collection. This copy is in need of extensive preservation treatment.