Oct 10, 2019 - Sale 2519

Sale 2519 - Lot 28

Price Realized: $ 1,375
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 350 - $ 500
BYRD, RICHARD E. Typed Letter Signed, "REByrd," to American financier John Cheever Cowdin, sending an American flag allegedly flown in the Curtiss-Wright Condor biplane used during Byrd's Second Expedition to the Antarctic [present]. 1 page, 4to, personal stationery; mounted to larger board, marginal discoloration from prior matting. Boston, 23 September 1935

Additional Details

"As a little token of appreciation for the wonderful co-operation received from you as a member of the Board of Directors of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, in making possibly my explorations, e[s]pecially our Second Expedition to the Antarctic, I wish to present you with an American flag which I carried with me in the Curtiss-Wright Condor, flying over 30,000 miles at the South Pole . . . .
"You will be interested to know that the Curtiss-Wright Condor, and the two Wright Cyclone engines which powered it, functioned perfectly during the entire expedition. . . . Even though we operated the Condor at temperatures as cold as 40° below zero, the Wright Cyclones never missed a beat. . . ."
with--Two items: Small American flag, allegedly carried by Byrd during his second expedition to the Antarctic. 8 1/4x11 1/2 inches; mounted to larger board Photograph of the Curtiss Condor biplane fitted with pontoons and with a sign painted on the flank: "Byrd Antarctic Expedition II." 10x7 1/2 inches; mounted to larger board. Each circa 1935.