AIRSHIP

66 x 53 cm. On wove paper. In fair condition: aged, worn and creased. The upper third of the page carries a semi-circular diagram giving measurements for the target at ranges from 500 to 3000 yards and 7000 to 3600 yards, 'Through an arc of 165°'. The lower two-thirds of the page carries text in two columns, under two headings. The first, 'Extreme Range . . .

The R100 had not been named at the time of this item, and is consequently not referred to by name in it. It was built (as part of a British government programme to develop airships to provide passenger and mail transport within the British Empire) by the Airship Guarantee Company, a specially-created subsidiary of the armaments firm Vickers, led by Commander Dennis Burney, with the design team headed by Barnes Wallis, later famous for his invention of the bouncing bomb, with Neville Shute. 41pp., 8vo.

Both letter and poem are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with a little rust spotting on each from the paperclip that attached them. ONE: Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed lady. 1p., 12mo. He thanks her for liking his 'humble verses', and invites her to drop him a line 're their fate'. TWO: Handbill poem, printed on one side of a 12mo piece of grey paper. Titled 'DISTURBED' and signed in type at end 'HORACE MILLS'. The poem is twenty lines long, and arranged in five four-line stanzas.

1p., 8vo. On cheap paper stock. Aged, and with chipping and closed tears to extremities. Stamped on the reverse by the Paris bookseller C. F. Labarre (fl. 1970). Printed in the bottom left-hand corner: 'No. 6012.' 37 lines of text.

In a letter to Gertrude Tomkinson of 10 June 1934 (offered separately as part of an archive relating to the loss of HM Airship C8) Evans states that he was 'stationed at Kingsnorth [Airship Station] near Hoo for sometime during the War [...] but not drafted there before the end of 1916'. In another letter to the same recipient on 24 July, he mentions that he is writing an 'account of the work of the Airship during the war'.

Issues of this magazine are excessively scarce, and a full run would appear to be well-nigh unique. The only other copy traced, either on COPAC or on WorldCat, is at the Imperial War Museum (whose inadequate entry implies that it only holds a single issue, stating that it 'lacks advertisement pages before page 1'). The seventeen issues present in this set (vol. 1 nos. 1-12; vol. 2 nos. 1-5) total 448pp., 4to, in a contemporary textured blue-cloth binding, with 'FLIGHTY | KINGSNORTH | AIRSHIP | STATION | 1917-18' in faded gilt on spine (binder's note in pencil on last page).

Seven pages, 8vo, sewn as issued, very good condition, with additional leaf inserted (one printed page), edges staine. The insertion is a Postscript on gun cotton. Two copies on COPAC.

Dimensions 14 centimeters by 9 centimeters. In good condition, although grubby and with creasing to one corner and ink from postmark along one edge. Sepia photograph of airborne balloon with a tangle of guyropes and mass of people beneath it. Hangars in background. The airship pioneer August von Parseval (1861-1942) worked in partnership with the engineer Hans Bartsch von Sigsfeld and the businessman August Riedinge. The "Dragonballoons" (Drachenballone), which he designed for military observation, are predecessors of the present-day blimp.

Card, 4 pages, c.4 x 3", signs of wear but mainly good condition. First page a device of a cross in flowers and the phrase "Thy Will be done"; second page image of airship with a brief account of the disaster; thrid page "In Sacred Memory . . ." as above; fourth page a list of the men who died.