1950 Esclangon La Vie Serait-Elle Possible Space Flight French First Edition For Sale

ESCLANGON, Ernest. La Vie Serait-Elle Possible à Bord de Satellites Artificiels de la Terre ou de Projectiles Astronautiques? Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1950.

Rare first edition offprint from Mémorial de l’Artillerie Française, Vol. XXIII, 4th fascicle (1949), by the distinguished French astronomer, mathematician, and future Director of the Paris Observatory, Ernest Esclangon. An early and significant contribution to astronautics, discussing the feasibility of human spaceflight, artificial Earth satellites, and astronautical projectiles for scientific and military applications, with particular attention to orbital, ballistic, and mechanical considerations.

Physical [1-2] [1-2] 3-18, plus advertisements and imprint leaves.

Condition
A well-preserved copy retaining its original wrappers. The fragile orange outer wrapper shows edge wear and rubbing, with losses at the upper left corner and along portions of the right edge of the front cover. Creasing and handling wear present. Rear wrapper shows minor edge wear and a small chip at the lower corner. Interior title page and text leaves are clean and complete, with light age toning and occasional mild creasing. Binding remains sound.

To protect the pamphlet, it is housed in a custom-made cloth-covered protective portfolio/case, featuring a blue spine label with gilt lettering. The portfolio is in excellent condition and provides attractive presentation and long-term protection.

Provenance: From the rocket development library of Herbert Schaefer, German-born rocket scientist and aerospace engineer. Educated in Berlin, Schaefer emigrated to the United States and worked at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) before joining NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center, where he participated in launch vehicle development and later served as Chief of the Systems, Performance, and Analysis Office for the Centaur Program.

A scarce and historically important early spaceflight publication from the dawn of the satellite age.