Moon; Man's Greatest Adventure
New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1973. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Format is approximately 12 inches by 15 inches. 267 pages. Illustrated endpaper. 278 illustrations, including 143 in full color (from DJ front flap) and fold-out mission diagram. Some illustrations are tipped in (two have some looseness. Includes essays entitled Man and the Moon by Silvio A. Bedini, A Step Toward Immortality by Wernher von Braun, and The Moon Gives Up Its Secrets by Fred Whipple. Other sections are entitled: Introduction, The Space Age, Apollo 11 To the Moon, Moon Talk, The Moon Revisited [about the Apollo 12 mission], and Space Age Chronology. There is a listing of Maps and Charts and Photo and Chart Credits. The title page has the signatures in ink of Silvio A. Bedini and the crews of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, Charles Conrad, Dick Gordon, and Alan Bean). The pages are made of high gloss paper, and ink can bead before drying. It has been reported that NASA astronauts were provided with signature stamps they could personally use, in addition to, or instead of, personally signing items. In this book, there are variations in the color in some signatures, such as Dick Gordon's, which make his signature more likely to be personally signed than personally stamped. It is clear is that each of the six astronauts personally signed or stamped their signatures on this book, most likely at the same time. The book has been clearly signed by the author Silvio A. Bedini. This is a wonderful book that is focused on the missions of Apollo 11 and 12, and has this signature connection to each crew member. Rare in any signed form. More