GODDARD, ROBERT HUTCHINGS (1882-1945). Liquid-Propellant Rocket Development (With 11 Plates). Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Volume 95, Number 3. (Publication 3381). City of Washington: Published by the Smithsonian Institution, March 16, 1936. Large 8vo (245 x 160 mm). 11 plates printed on glossy stock showing Goddard's historic rocket assemblies and launch towers at Roswell, New Mexico. Original brown printed paper wrappers, with minor edge-toning and very light handling wear to the spine. An exceptional, crisp survival. THE GEOMETRIC ACCELERATION OF THE SPACE AGE: THEODORE VON KÁRMÁN'S PERSONAL COPY OF GODDARD'S HIGHLY VITAL 1936 LIQUID-PROPELLANT LANDMARK.FIRST EDITION OF THE PAPER THAT DOCUMENTED THE PRACTICAL REALIZATION OF LIQUID-FUEL SPACEFLIGHT. While Goddard's theoretical 1919 paper A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes mathematically proved rocket flight was possible, this 1936 publication served as his definitive report to the Smithsonian and the Daniel Guggenheim Foundation proving that liquid-oxygen and gasoline propulsion was a highly functional, controllable reality. The 11 crucial photographic plates document his historic static test runs and flight trials conducted in the desert of Roswell, New Mexico, between 1930 and 1935, including gyroscopic stabilization and flights exceeding the speed of sound.The provenance of this copy elevates it to a premier tier of 20th-century scientific engineering artifacts. The signatory, Dr. Theodore von Kármán (1881-1963), was a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer, and physicist who founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and directed the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at Caltech (GALCIT). As the chief architect of early American jet propulsion and supersonic aerodynamics, von Kármán's personal acquisition and signature on Goddard's fundamental liquid-fuel text links the lone American pioneer of rocketry directly to the institutional founder of the American space program. First Edition, an exceptional association copy owned and signed by aerospace titan Theodore von Kármán in ink on the upper margin of the front wrapper ('Dr. T. von Kármán'). For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing