Airways: The History of Commercial Aviation in the United States

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1942. First Edition. Hardcover with Dust Jacket. Near Fine/Very Good+. W. A. Dwiggins. 8vo. Pp. xiv, 430, xv. Illustrated with 32 plates of black & white halftone photo reproductions. Chronology, bibliographical notes, index, appendices including a tipped-in fold-out air mail route table. Dark blue cloth, titles stamped in gilt on the cover and spine, decorated endpapers, head edge dyed brown. Typography and binding design by W. A. Dwiggins. In the illustrated dust jacket letterpress printed black on textured paper with price $3.50 intact on the front flap. Cover upper & lower edge color faded, binding solid, leaves crisp and bright. Jacket spine ends chipped, damp stain along the upper edge of the back panel, short closed tears along the lower edge. Winner of the first Alfred A. Knopf Fellowship in History. "A vivid account of the rise of America's new giant industry" written by a journalist when many aviation pioneers were still alive. Among them, William E. Boeing. ln 1917 he founded the The Boeing Airplane Company. With the importance of aircraft underscored during WWI, Boeing recognized post-WWI peacetime potential in "the development of a commercial flying boat," per Boeing archives. Under his guidance, a small company of less than 20 employees grew into a huge corporation of related industries. In the 1930s, frustrated by successful antitrust efforts that dissolved United Aircraft and Transport, a holding company that controlled Boeing and related businesses, including United Air Lines, W. E. Boeing sold his interests in the Boeing Airplane Co. He continued to advise the company he founded. He passed away in 1956.

The scarce dust jacket design is vintage W. A. Dwiggins, with apre typography and minimal illustration conveying open skies. Dust jacket preserved in a removable, clear archival sleeve.

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