The Sixties Catalogue

T h e S I X T I E S 56 “With Sincere Thanks For Being Both One Step Ahead Of Us And One Step Behind Us Throughout ‘Giant Step’” 54. (NASA) ARMSTRONG, Neil, COLLINS, Michael, and ALDRIN, Buzz. Apollo 11 photograph archive. No place, circa 1969. Three color photographs, measuring 13-3/4 by 11, 7 by 7-1/4, and 10-3/4 by 13-3/4 inches; matted and inscribed on the mat, the photographs measure 20 by 16, 14 by 11, and 16 by 20 inches, respectively. $37,000. Click for more info Rare and lovely NASA-related archive, comprising three large color photographs of the Apollo 11 moon landing, warmly inscribed by astronauts Neil Armstrong (“To Elton—With sincere thanks for being both one step ahead of us and one step behind us throughout ‘Giant Step’—Neil Armstrong Apollo 11”), Michael Collins (“To Elton— With Sincere Best Wishes and Giant Thanks from Apollo 11—Michael Collins”), and Buzz Aldrin (“To Elton, C’etait un grand plaisir de vous avoir eu avec nous pendant le voyage de Giant Step et d’avoir eu votre service common interprete [It was a great pleasure to have you tour with us during the Giant Step journey and to have had you as an interpreter]. Buzz Aldrin”) to Elton Stepherson, Jr., an Area Director for the U.S. Information Agency selected to accompany the astronauts on a World Tour following their successful mission (thereby making him a trailblazer as one of the first management-level African Americans working for NASA). Armstrong once told his biographer, James Hansen, that he never wrote his famous quote in any inscription. In fact, this is one of only two known copies to have referenced it directly. Very nearly fine condition. Most rare. “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”