(AVIATION.) William Mayfield Preston, photographer. Pair of airplanes in flight / The Barling Bomber. Silver prints, 8 x 10 inches; minimal wear. Ohio, 1911 and 1923
Two works by the Ohio-based pioneer of aviation photography.
[Pair of airplanes in flight], with manuscript note and inked stamps on verso; minimal wear. Mayfield's handwritten note on verso reads, "This picture has only been published once--obscurely--20 years ago or more. 1st time in history of world 2 airplanes in air at same time!" [Huffman Prairie, OH], circa 1911; printed 1930s.
"Barling Bomber," with pencil caption, Mayfield's inked stamp and later credit label on verso. The massive Witteman-Lewis XNBL-1, also known as the Barling Bomber, first launched as a prototype in 1923, but never went into production. No place, 1923.
Provenance: Swann sale, 9 December 2003, lots 393 and 394.
