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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.

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.

The Thompson Trophy air race (1929-1961) was an annual aircraft speed race with a course set up around pylons. It was an especially prestigious event during the great air race period of the 1930s. This unique limited-edition publication covers the year’s winners from 1929 to 1936.  It has a gold cover and colorful illustrations of the winning aircraft, which are beautifully preserved.  Each illustration of a winning aircraft was designed to be suitable for framing. The book is held together with a spiral binding that is a concern for future preservation.

This 1967 commemorative newspaper issue documented the 40th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis monoplane. It features photos of a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis and of pilot Frank Tallman, cofounder of Tallmantz Aviation, which built the replica. The replica was flown to Paris by the U.S. Air Force to be displayed during the 1967 Paris Air Show.

This is an anniversary compendium of Ryan Airplanes (1925-1975), the company that built the Spirit of St. Louis—the airplane Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic—as well as many other commercial and military aircraft. The book details the many aircraft Ryan produced, and includes photos, advertisements, promotional brochures, and even a comic strip. It is an informative overview of an aircraft manufacturer that made a substantial contribution to aviation history and technology.

Published in 1946, this adventure story is set in Peru in 1938. It is the tale of a father and his two sons’ pursuit of an Incan treasure known as the "golden condor." This copy has a bookplate identifying the book as a gift from the publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, to the Aeronautical Archives. It is representative of the many works of popular aviation adventure stories in the National Air and Space Museum library collection that document how motorized flight captured young people's imaginations.

What is an aircraft book doing at the national postal museum library? Airplanes have also carried the mail—and continue to do so. The golden age of private aircraft spanned the end of World War I to the start of World War II. During these years of temporary calm, aircraft engineers made significant technological advances, producing safer, stronger, and faster aircraft. Many of these innovations appeared in aircraft made for the private market.