Aeroplanes Bleriot [over the English Channel].

THE FIRST FLIGHT OVER A BODY OF WATER IN A HEAVIER-THAN-AIR CRAFT

[BLÉRIOT, Louis]. [GALICE, Louis, French artist (1864-1935). Aèroplanes Blériot. Affiches Louis Galice. Large folio colored lithograph poster, 30 ¼ x 39 ½". Paris: G. Borel & Cie [1910].

Issued by C. Borel & Cie, 25, Rue Brunel, Paris. A striking colored lithograph by Louis Galice depicting Blériot's Type XI monoplane approaching Dover, England, July 25, 1909, at night having just flown over the English Channel. Blériot (1872-1936) approaches Dover, his searchlight illuminating the town below, as well as its famous White Cliffs. This famous thirty-six and a half minute crossing from Calais to Dover won the ₤1000 Daily Mail prize for the first flight over a body of water in a heavier-than-air craft when he crossed the Engllish Channel. The world had suddenly gotten smaller, and the British newspapers declared that Great Britain was no longer an island "guarded by the inviolable sea." The feat was a boon to the Blériot Company, generating 100 orders for new planes. A nearly fine example, with two blank top corners off, and the last three letters of Blériot's name in red at the top slightly faded. A copy was exhibited at a commemorative exhibition at Selfridge's, London, July 1989. A copy sold at French auction January 19, 2014, for the equivalent of $8138.00.