Mustang: The Operational Record - First Edition - Signed - Robert Jackson - Bauman Rare Books

Mustang: The Operational Record

Robert JACKSON

Item#: 89111 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Mustang: The Operational Record

Mustang: The Operational Record

SIGNED BY 22 WORLD WAR II FIGHTER PILOTS, FIVE OF THEM ACES

JACKSON, Robert. Mustang: The Operational Record. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, (1993). Small quarto, original red cloth, original dust jacket.

First American edition of this comprehensive photo-illustrated work on the P-51 Mustang, with photographs of the era and line drawings, many in color. Signed on the half title and title page by 22 fighter pilots, most with their Group and Squadron numbers as well.

The delivery of the American-built P-51 into the hands of the British Royal Air Force in 1940 marked a turning point in the battle to control the air. Nicknamed the Mustang for its sleek beauty and raw power, the P-51 was one of World War II’s greatest fighting aircraft, second only to the P-47 Thunderbolt in Allied victories. The P-51 took American pilots over Berlin, flew in offensive strafing assaults in both Europe and the Pacific, and went head to head against the best the Luftwaffe could offer. By the end of the War, the P-51 had taken down over 9000 enemy aircraft, nearly 5000 of them in aerial combat. This wonderfully photo-illustrated work is signed by 22 of the War’s finest pilots and aces, including Arthur F. Jeffrey (10 Mustang victories; 14 overall), Ernie Bankey (8.5/9.5), Arthur Fiedler (8), Barrie Davis (6), and Clayton K. Gross (6), and 17 others. First published in England in 1992. Embossed owner blindstamp to front flyleaf.

Fine condition.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
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Collation Process by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages. A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages.
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