"ZEPPELIN"

£1,750 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917) developed his interest in airships as early as the 1870s. By 1895, he had patented the first of these iconic craft to carry his name, the patent in US following four years later. In 1909, he founded the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft (DELAG), the world's first commercial passenger-carrying airline. As can be seen here, where this 1912 model is depicted gliding in a leisurely manner above the Rhine, the service provided mainly pleasure cruises rather than inter-city travel. Ernest Montaut (1878-1909) was an innovative French poster designer whose all-too-short career captured the exhilarating new world of motorised transport, whether in the air, on the water, or especially at high speed on the ground. He introduced the stylistic conceits of close horizontal lines and forward-leaning perspective in his vehicles, for instance, to exaggerate the sense of rapid motion. This period from the mid-1890s saw not only the rapid evolution of the motor car, but also the application of the internal combustion engine to boat design, as well as being fundamental in making possible the whole new concept of powered flight. Montaut was joined in this endeavour by his wife, Marguerite (1883-1936), who expanding the range of earlier motoring posters to include aviation. She occasionally signed herself as M. Montaut, but more often as Gamy, an anagram of her familiar name, Magy. Following her husband's untimely death at the age of only 31, Marg

• Binding: Hardcover

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