RARE LINDBERGH LETTER FROM HIS TRIUMPHANT TOUR AFTER HIS GROUNDBREAKING TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT. Au...

RARE LINDBERGH LETTER FROM HIS TRIUMPHANT TOUR AFTER HIS GROUNDBREAKING TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT. Autograph Letter Signed ('Charles Lindbergh') to Richard Blythe on the continued adoration on the heels of his ground-breaking solo transatlantic flight and the Spirit of St. Louis, 4 pp, 238 x 150 mm, written recto only on 'HUCKINS HOTELS ... OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA' letterhead, September 29, 1927, old folds, repair to lower panel of final leaf. Provenance: Richard Blythe, Lindbergh's PR man and friend; sold Richard Blythe Aviation Collection, Heritage Auctions, April 11, 2012, lot 34219. A RARE LINDBERGH LETTER ON THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS, AND THE CONINTUED ADORATION HE ENCOUNTERS ON HIS TOUR. On May 12 Lindbergh arrived in New York having completed a two-leg flight from San Diego to St. Louis to New York in a record time of 21 hours 20 minutes, more than 5 1/2 hours faster than the previous record. If he had taken off as a nobody, he landed as a hero; in the words of historian J.J. Corn, he 'dramatically flew into the public's gaze.' Met by throngs of people and an inquiring press, the young Lindbergh would later comment, 'I've never seen such excitement and disorder around aircraft.' One of the first people to meet him was Dick Blythe, hired by Wright Aviation to manage the flier's new found fame. The two men were cast together, sharing a room at the Garden Hotel, where Lindbergh broke the ice, literally, by pulling back his covers and 'dousing the terrified flack with ice' (Kessner, The Flight of the Century, 2010, p 80). The two would remain friends until Blythe's death in 1941. After completing his astonishing and groundbreaking transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, he was again greeted with even more adoration and acclaim upon his return to the United States. In New York, more than 4 million people lined the streets to see the triumphant young pilot. Annointed the 'lion of the hour' the young Lindberg embarked on a country-wide tour with the Spirit of St. Louis, primarily to promote the budding aviation industry, visiting 92 cities in 48 states. He remained very proud of his plane, which he had so painstakingly helped construct, and here writes to Blythe, 'The plane and engine are both in excellent condition and show very little sign of use. As you know, the motor has not been overhauled yet we have not had even minor difficulty on the tour and it has been in the air a total of 301 hours. (93 hrs previous to this tour).' Given the grueling hours of the tour, and that he was still under contract to complete his book account of his feat, he had little time for writing. Real time accounts of his tour during this time are exceedingly rare. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing