"EARHART BECAME AN IMMEDIATE SENSATION":
PRESENTATION FIRST EDITION OF 20 HRS. 40 MIN.,
WITH THE SCARCE ORIGINAL DUST JACKET,
INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY AMELIA EARHART

EARHART, Amelia. 20 Hrs. 40 Min. Our Flight in the Friendship. The American Girl, First Across the Atlantic by Air, Tells Her Story. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1928. Octavo, original burgundy cloth, reproduction autograph endpapers, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First trade edition presentation copy of Earhart's first book, inscribed and signed by Earhart on the recto of the photographic frontispiece: "To Betsy Greene, Amelia Earhart." With the very scarce original dust jacket. The recipient is believed to be Betty Greene, a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) during World War II and a founder of the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). Earhart was one of Greene's childhood heroes.

"In April 1928 Earhart received the telephone call that would change her life: an offer to become the first woman to fly the Atlantic. Earhart's impeccable character and physical resemblance to Charles A. Lindbergh made her an easy choice for the promoters, aviator Richard Byrd, publisher George Putnam, and socialite Amy Phipps Guest, who had originally intended to make the flight… Earhart departed… in a trimotor Fokker with pilots Wilmer 'Bill' Stultz and Louis 'Slim' Gordon… from Trepassy, Newfoundland, at 11:40 a.m. on 17 June… Stultz landed the Fokker on the water at Burry Port, Wales, and Earhart became an immediate sensation. Earhart was astounded by the reception she received. She was feted in London and New York and was given a ticker-tape parade down Broadway with her nearly forgotten fellow pilots. On the postflight tour around the country… Earhart sensed her opportunity to promote her passions of aviation, feminism, and pacifism" (ANB). In her book, which combines Earhart's flight log entries from the Friendship with recollections of her childhood and the origins and growth of her interest in aviation, Earhart writes: "Possibly the feature of aviation which may appeal most to thoughtful women is its potentiality for peace. The term is not merely an airy phrase. Isolation breeds distrust and differences of outlook. Anything which tends to annihilate distance destroys isolation, and brings the world and its peoples closer together. I think aviation has a chance to increase intimacy, understanding, and far-flung friendships thus." Profusely illustrated with 61 black-and-white photographic plates. With "This is a copy of the first edition" on the copyright page. Preceded in the same year by a signed limited edition.

Book very nearly fine, with just a hint of rubbing at spine ends and corners, gilt bright. Very scarce original dust jacket (typically not present) with some chipping and edge-wear and old tape reinforcement to verso, a bit of color added to foot of spine, very good and bright. A very desirable signed presentation copy with historic aviation association.