A fascinating archive relating to Warren Irving Glover (1879-1956), who served as Second Assistant Postmaster General, and who fought tirelessly throughout his career to get air mail service off the ground. He served in the Coolidge and Hoover administrations, and organized the first air mail routes from the Panama Canal to South America in 1929, and from New York to Buenos Aires in 1930. Includes:
Brown, Walter F.
Inscribed Photogravure
No place, January 1, 1933. Photogravure, inscribed by forty-ninth Postmaster General, Walter Folger Brown, to Glover: "To Irving Glover/with every good wish/Walter F. Brown/1 January 1933". 12 x 9 1/2 in. (305 x 241 mm).
Byrd, Richard, and Harold June
Envelope, signed
Cristobal, Panama Canal to Washington, D.C., October 30, 1933. Panama Canal Bureau of Posts envelope, signed by Byrd and co-pilot June, to Glover, while en route to Antarctica on their second expedition; numerous stamps; opened. Mounting residue on verso. 3 5/8 x 6 7/16 in. (92 x 163 mm).
Eckener, Hugo
Signed First Flight Cover
Los Angeles to Lakehurst, New Jersey, August 26-29, 1929. Air mail envelope to Glover, signed by Eckener on front, during Eckener’s command of the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin on the final leg of its round-the-world journey, the first for an airship; numerous stamps; unopened. Mounting residue on verso. 3 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. (95 x 165 mm).
Eckener, Hugo
Signed First Flight Cover
Los Angeles to Lakehurst, New Jersey, August 26-29, 1929. Air mail envelope to Glover, signed by Eckener on front, during Eckener’s command of the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin on the final leg of its round-the-world journey, the first for an airship; numerous stamps; opened. Mounting residue on verso. 3 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. (95 x 165 mm).
Eckener, Hugo
Signed First Flight Cover
Los Angeles to Lakehurst, New Jersey, August 26-29, 1929. Air mail envelope to Glover, signed by Eckener on front, during Eckener’s command of the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin on the final leg of its round-the-world journey, the first for an airship; numerous stamps; opened. Mounting residue on verso. 4 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (108 x 171 mm).
Glover, W. Irving
Signed First Flight Postcard
Lakehurst, New Jersey, August 7, 1929. Signed and inscribed by Glover to his daughter, Frances Glover; numerous stamps. A sentimental postcard, sent from father to daughter, that travelled aboard the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin on its first round-the-world journey. Mounting residue on verso. 3 1/4 x 5 1/2 in. (82 x 140 mm).
Glover, W. Irving, and Charles Lindbergh, et al.
Signed Post Office Department Identification Badge
Washington, D.C., January 1, 1927. Original printed I.D. card, No. 3, issued to Glover, serving as Second Assistant Postmaster General, endorsed by Postmaster General Harry Stewart New. Additionally signed by pilots Charles Lindbergh, Richard Byrd, Arthur C. Goebel, and Lester Maitland. Original folding black leatherette case, elaborately stamped in gilt.
Lindbergh, Charles
Signed Photograph
Havana, Cuba, 1928. Gelatin silver print, inscribed by Lindbergh to Second Assistant Postmaster General William Irving Glover, bottom right, dated February 2, 1928; signature almost completely faded; studio ink stamp on verso. 8 x 10 in. (203 x 254 mm). Hinge-mounted, in mat.
Lindbergh, Charles
Signed First Flight Cover
San Juan, Puerto Rico to Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana, September 16-23, 1929. Pan American Airways envelope, signed by Lindbergh on front, to Glover. Postmarked Washington, D.C., Miami, San Juan, and Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana (present day Suriname); numerous stamps; unopened. Mounting residue on verso. 4 x 9 1/2 in. (102 x 243 mm). Sent during the first air mail flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana.
Lindbergh, Charles
Signed First Flight Cover
Cristobal, Canal Zone (Panama) to Washington, D.C., May 1-2, 1930. “First Air Mail Express Flight Cristobal, Canal Zone, to United States” envelope, signed by Lindbergh and co-pilot Basil L. Rowe on front, to Glover; "received" stamp on verso, Miami, dated May 2, 1930; unopened. Mounting residue on verso. 3 5/8 x 6 1/2 in. (92 x 165 mm). Sent during the first air mail flight from Cristobal, Canal Zone, to the United States.
Lindbergh, Charles
Air Mail Envelope, signed
Kingston, Jamaica to Cristobal, Canal Zone (Panama), November 19-22, 1931. Air mail envelope, signed by Lindbergh and co-pilot Basil L. Rowe on front, to Glover; numerous stamps; opened. Mounting residue on verso. 3 5/8 x 6 1/2 in. (92 x 165 mm). Sent during Lindbergh’s flights promoting air mail service in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Lindbergh, Charles
Signed First Flight Cover
Cristobal, Canal Zone (Panama) to Washington, D.C., November 25, 1931. Air mail envelope, signed by Lindbergh and co-pilot Basil L. Rowe on front, to Glover. Postmarked Cristobal, Canal Zone; stamped “First Flight/The African Clipper/Canal Zone-U.S.A./Nov. 25, 1931”; opened. Mounting residue on verso. 3 5/8 x 6 1/2 in. (92 x 165 mm).
[Wright, Wilbur] Archibald, James F. J.
Inscribed Photogravure
No place, no date. Photogravure of Wright standing in front of his Model A flyer at Hunaudières racecourse near Le Mans, France, in 1908. Inscribed by photographer Archibald below image, to Glover: "I made this kodak of/Wilbur Wright/and the first/plane that ever took the air at/Le Mans-France in September 1908/when he made the unbelievable/record of one hour and eighteen/minutes..." 18 x 14 in. (457 x 356 mm). Apparently an unrecorded image of Wright, we can find no record of it ever being reproduced. Lot also includes an original photograph depicting the first air mail flight in Panama, Feb. 6, 1929, and one MS. note describing Lindbergh, Byrd, and Goebel.