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Auction: 4020 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 48

A Bleriot Promotional Poster A poster, 30 in. x 39 in. (76cm x 99cm), entitled AEROPLANES BLÉRIOT and inscribed G. BOREL & Cie. 25 Rue Brunel, PARIS, depicting a Blériot monoplane in flight over the sea at dusk, illuminating part of a coastal town with its searchlight, in a glazed wooden frame Estimate £ 1,000-1,500 Louis Blériot, an early aviator whose name is one of the few still known outside aeronautical circles, had made a fortune in manufacturing acetylene headlamps and other accessories for motor cars. He proceeded to dissipate this fortune on aviation projects, most of which proved to be fiascos. By 1909 he was almost bankrupt, and was extremely fortunate to rescue himself from this predicament by winning the Daily Mail prize for his crossing of the English Channel in his Model XI monoplane. A month later, flying his much more powerful Model XII, he was narrowly defeated by an American, Glenn Curtiss, in the Gordon-Bennett Cup competition for speed over a 20-kilometre course. This poster is stated to be one of a number brought to England at the time of the Bournemouth International Aviation Meeting in 1910 by Blériot's business manager, M. Chereau, with a view to publicising the acetylene lamps on which Blériot's finances still largely depended. The scene depicted was of course imaginary, since Blériot's cross-Channel flight had taken place in broad daylight. The posters are stated by the vendor to have been left in the hotel (now long since converted to flats) where Blériot and his wife stayed during the Bournemouth Meeting.

Sold for
£500