First Flight! Publishers' Bindings and Planes!

The boy aviators in record flight, or, The Rival Aeroplane (NY: Hurst and Co, 1910)

The Motor Maids across the continent (NY: Hurst, 1911)

On December 17, 1903, the first airplane flew.  The Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, made the very first successful flight in history of a "self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft." Orville served as pilot for the the gas powered, propeller-driven biplane.  It stayed in the air for a mere twelve seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight.  The aftermath of this first flight can be seen in these two examples of young adult adventure stories, both published within a decade of the Wright Brothers' first flight.  Over a century later, we cannot help but be captivated by flight - birds, planes, or rockets. These books helped to capture the imaginations of young readers, and while our reading choices may have changed, our imaginations still soar through the power of books!

Both of these books are featured in Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books, and are part of the Richard Minsky Collection housed at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library.