JOSEPH LOUIS LECORNU (1864-1931) LA NAVIGATION AÉRIENNE - HISTOIRE DOCUMENTAIRE ET ANECDOTIQUE [AIR NAVIGATION - A DOCUMENTARY AND ANECDOTAL HISTORY] 1 VOLUME. FIRST EDITION 1903. IN FRENCH.

1 hardback volume, VII-484 pp. Numerous black-and-white illustrations (drawings and photographs) both within the text and as inserts. Divided into five parts: Part One, The Legendary Period: The Pioneers, Part Two, The Historical Period: The Montgolfier Brothers, Part Three, The Heroic Period: The Two Schools, Part Four, The Scientific and Military Period: The Siege of Paris, Part Five, The Modern Period: The Great Airships and Air Sports. This work, which is richly documented from both a historical and a technical perspective, was awarded the Prix Montyon 1903 by the Académie Française. Joseph-Louis Lecornu. French engineer and kite flyer. A graduate of the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in 1888, he devoted himself in particular to the study and practice of kite flying. At the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, where kite flying featured as a demonstration sport, he won the event in the ‘large kites’ category. Joseph-Louis Lecornu. Engineer and kite pioneer A French engineer and graduate of the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he devoted much of his life to his passion for aeronautics and, more specifically, to the study and practice of kite flying. As the inventor of several kite designs, he is notably credited with creating the multi-cell kite. It was with this design that he took part in the aerostation competition organised in 1900 as part of the Paris World’s Fair, where he won first prize. This competition was a first of its kind in France at the time. Author of numerous reference works on aeronautics and kites, he also wrote two manuals published in 1917 and 1918, intended to promote the use of kites by the military navy for maritime surveillance and the detection of German submarines. Furthermore, he published several stories and short stories in ‘Lectures pour tous’, one of the most famous popular magazines of his time.