Wernher Von Braun’s book “History of Rocketry and Space Travel” co written by he and Frederick I. Ordway III is the defining book on the subject written by the man who pioneered rocketry with the World War II V2 missile program and who was whisked away to the United States to spearhead the fledgling US space program.
For those interested in the space race that led to the United States managing to put men on the moon in 1969 this is a “must have” book. But to have a copy signed by men who were a part of that history makes this copy even more “must have”. The signatures create a link between the history and the people who made it.
This copy of the book is signed by “BUZZ ALDRIN, Gemini XII, Apollo XI; ALAN BEAN, Apollo 12, Skylab II (SL-3); WALT CUNNINGHAM, Apollo 7; CHARLES M. DUKE, Apollo 16; FRED HAISE, Apollo 13; EDGAR MITCHELL, Apollo 14” and “TOM STAFFORD, Gemini 6, 9, Apollo 10, ASTP.”
The book covers the history of rocketry and space travel up to 1966 including the development of the World War II V2 (A4) rocket and the efforts of such people as Tsiolkovsky, Goddard and Oberth amongst others. The book also examines the lead up to the Apollo missions to the moon.
Not only signed but also extensively illustrated this is a historical artifact of the defining achievement of the twentieth century.
The book is to be auctioned by Bonhams at their Space History auction to be held in New York on 20th July 2016.
You will find the Bonhams sale page for this book if you click here.
Unsigned copies of this book can also be found on Amazon:
The original version by Wernher Von Braun click here.
The revised edition by Wernher Von Braun and Frederick I. Ordway III click here.
(All pictures courtesy Bonhams).
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
