Description
Inscribed to Igor Sikorsky by the president of Chance Vought Corporation, Eugene E. Wilson, The Romance of Leonardo Da Vinci from the Heritage Press.
Octavo, 580pp. Yellow leather, title on label affixed to spine. Rubbing and wear to all covers. Solid text block. Illustrated endpapers. Signed on the second front flyleaf: “January 12 – 1938 / To Igor Sikorsky, With warm personal regards. E.E. Wilson.” Provenance: From the estate of Susana and Nickolai Sikorsky, the son and daughter-in-law of Igor Sikorsky. Estate sale in West Hartford, CT, May 2021.
Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972) was a Russian-American aviation pioneer, best known for the development of the first viable helicopter. Early in his career in Russia, Sikorsky was successful in designing fixed-wing aircraft. Moving to the United States in 1919, he eventually founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. In the 1930s, the Sikorsky Corporation developed the first flying boats for Pan American Airways to allow for ocean-crossing flights. His most notable achievement came in 1939 with the development of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable helicopter.
