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Mouillard, L. P. / Louis-Pierre Mouillard : The Empire Of The Air: An Ornithological Essay On The Flight Of Birds / L'Empire de l'Air

GPO, Washington, 1893

8vo. 67pp article, illustrated with 14 figure drawings, and several tables, salvaged from a damaged copy of the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1892. From the opening paragraph, "If there be a domineering, tyrant thought, it is the conception that the problem of flight may be solved by man. When once this idea has invaded the brain, it possesses it exclusively. It is then a haunting thought, a walking nightmare, impossible to cast off. If now we consider the pitying contempt with which such a line of research is appreciated, we may somewhat conceive the unhappy lot of the poor investigator whose soul is thus possessed. Many of these searchers, either through pride or timidity, have withdrawn themselves from human intercourse, and have found themselves paralyzed by attempting to carry on their experiments in secret. They quickly found themselves so cavalierly classed as dreamers or as lunatics that they were compelled, under pains of complete discredit, to conceal from others this so-considered flaw in their intellect." Extracted and translated from the author's seminal title, L'Empire de l'Air, published in France, 1881, as per the editor. Sections include Thoughts on Aviation, Ornithology: Surveyed in Flight, Observations of Birds, and Man - Flight Theoretically Considered. Housed in protective mylar report cover. Very scarce.. Book. Book Condition: VG. Binding: Soft cover

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