Premium Artcurial
140
-
MERMOZ Jean
See original version (French)
140
-
MERMOZ Jean
See original version (French)
Estimate €800 - €1,000
Voluntary lot
Description
MERMOZ Jean
L.A.S. ‘Jean’, Saint-Louis [mid-October 1927], to his ‘Beloved Mum’; 2 pages, in-4, on letterhead: Hôtel-Café restaurant de la Poste, M.-E. Audic.
Non-stop flight between Toulouse and Saint-Louis, Senegal (10–11 October, on the Spirit of Montaudran).
‘As you must have seen in the newspapers, our flight was a complete success and we were lucky enough to arrive two hours before Costes and Le Brix, which means we are the first to have flown from France to Senegal non-stop. The journey went well. It was a rather tiring night due to the intense heat between Agadir and Saint-Louis. Over the course of our twenty-four hours, we consumed only half a litre of coffee and twelve bananas. As for me, I arrived in good shape. My companion [Élisée Negrin] was a bit tired. He’s out of practice because he never does stage races. But in the end he did well too, and Costes and Le Brix weren’t very pleased to find us there when they arrived. We were received by the Governor in a reasonably decent manner, even though we hadn’t been announced at any point. But in the end, we were given a slight hint that we were unofficial rather than official visitors, and therefore of less interest. Anyway, as far as we’re concerned, we’re happy and Latécoère is beaming. Had we not suffered propeller damage, we were due to set off again today in two legs: Dakar–Casablanca and Casablanca–Toulouse, carrying the mail. But as a result, we have to wait for a spare propeller and won’t be setting off with the mail for another eight days”…
Correspondence, No. 125.
Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936);
- Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955);
- Passed down through the family
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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