THE HENRY WOODHOUSE ARCHIVE RELATING TO EARLY AVIATION.

THE HENRY WOODHOUSE ARCHIVE RELATING TO EARLY AVIATION. Following is a selection of early aviation archives and correspondence of Henry Woodhouse (1894-1970), and those of the Aero Club of America, a spin-off in 1905 from the Auto Club of America, and which operated until 1922 when it became the National Aeronautic Association.

Woodhouse, born in Turin, Italy, came to the United States in 1905. Fascinated with early aviation, around 1909 he began writing articles about flying that appeared in The Independent, Collier’s Weekly, McClure’s Metropolitan, and World’s Work. With the assistance and backing of Robert J. Collier and Henry A. Wise Wood, he founded the magazine Flying, becoming its managing editor. Flying, after a successful start, began to lose money, but Henry continued publishing with his own capital. At this time, 1915, Aerial Age Weekly was born with his assistance, and Woodhouse claimed that these journals were the official publication of the Aero Club of America. No mention in the Club’s records substantiate this claim.

Prior to 1915 Woodhouse had been an active peace worker, but that year, with World War I raging in Europe, he became an outspoken supporter of the national defense movement. He was an advisor to Polar explorers Peary, Amundsen, and Shackleton, and was instrumental in obtaining airplanes and scientific instruments for the 1916 and 1922 expeditions.

Woodhouse authored two books on military aviation, the first on the Naval application to flying, the second on the Army or ground applications. Woodhouse was considered by some to be a wheeler-dealer, but, in spite of many of his methods, he was a great contributor to the growth of early aviation in America. He never married, and upon his death, with his wealth then depleted, he left what remained to his housekeeper.

In this vast treasure trove of ephemera are items which have names inked on them such as Gen. John J. Pershing etc. We cannot guarantee whether these are orig signatures or for identification purposes, but all items in this lot come from Woodhouse’s archive.

Due to the large number and variety of documents and ephemera, this collection has been divided into categories consisting of periodicals, United States Government documents, printed ephemera, the Pan American Aero conferences, Aero Club of America, Admiral Robert E. Peary, the First Yale Unit (Naval Aviation 1917), and many others of early aeronautical interest.

Further to this explanation, there are over two thousand documents which have been sorted by subject and individually placed in protective clear archival sleeves. Twenty-three broad subjects have been generally collated and are separated for ease in future referencing. The majority of the material relates to a ten-year period from 1912-1922, although from the lighter-than-air section there is a handwritten log of an ascension on 9 October 1900 by the French balloonist De La Poulse for a duration of thirty-five hours and forty-five minutes. This is a rare and unusual early document. Much of the general correspondence relates to interesting communications between the early aviation manufacturers and Woodhouse regarding their machines and advertisements in his magazines. In the Wright Brothers section, letters indicate Woodhouse was actively engaged in crediting them for the first flight and memorializing the Wrights through his magazines via special numbers and the first Pan-American Aeronautic Exposition. The letters from the Wright Company are signed by senior executives of the firm.

Woodhouse was a great admirer of the Polar explorers Peary, Amundsen and Shackleton and supported and promoted their efforts in any way possible. The Peary file contains a wealth of material on him, with copies of his remarks, telegrams, and letters from Peary’s wife and daughter. The letters give a personal insight into the man. In the file is an orig copy of a House of Representative August 2, 1916 Joint Resolution, H.J. 287, which was an unsuccessful attempt to repeal Peary’s promotion to Admiral and his retirement pension. The resolution did not pass. An autograph of Captain Roald Amundsen, discovered of the South Pole, is also a part of the collection. Among the 75 orig photographs are rare shots of airplanes, pilots, airships, motors, ships, and a scarce and wonderful full-length photo of Hobey Baker, the famous Princeton hockey and football star. Baker in 1918 commanded a World War I fighter squadron and was sadly killed in an air crash in December of that year, days before he was to return to the United States.

Woodhouse was a great advocate of “Aerial Mail Service” and there is a great deal of his and the Aero Club of America correspondence regarding the promotion of airmail and its final success in 1917. Prior to World War I hundreds of state, city, college, and private aero clubs were formed and in the collection are examples of their colorful stationery, with requests to the Aero Club of America and Woodhouse’s magazines for recognition. Various copies of the Woodhouse magazines, Flying, Aerial Age, and Scientific Age are part of the twenty-four titles found in the important periodical collection of some 95 issues in all. Woodhouse was also a great proponent of building a strong naval air arm and his efforts were rewarded with the establishment of the National Aerial Coast Patrol Commission. He encouraged the formation of the “First Yale Unit”, a Naval aviation unit made up of Yale men and in reality it was the start of naval flying. This file contains correspondence and clippings on F. Trubee Davison, the organizer of the Yale Unit and in the minds of many, the father of Naval aviation.

The balloon collection of over eighty items contains important orig ink drawings of twenty-four balloons of Italian, French, Belgian, Russian and British manufacture. The dates of these airships, illustrated, are from 1884-1912. The named and dated renderings are highly detailed in black ink with white highlights. The date of the drawings would be about 1912-1913 and in all probability were used in one or more of Woodhouse’s early magazines. These are rare and most decorative.

The Woodhouse archive also contains a wealth of printed ephemera. The sixty-four items include many early aircraft and engine manufacturers brochures. Two outstanding examples include a very scarce, highly illustrated 1910 catalog of the French aviation sales company C.I.N.A. in which was offered twelve different aero planes with photos, drawings and prices, seven aircraft engines with the same information, two airships and four different style propellers, and the beautifully presented brochure of the Duesenberg Motor Company, a branch of the famous Duesenberg Auto Company. Illustrated are well-known types of boats of the 1920s owned by the wealthy sports enthusiasts and businessmen of the time, and examples of boats used by the Navy, all equipped with Duesenberg engines. Other ephemera items include a map of Paris and a 1917 aircraft identification booklet bearing the ink signature believed to be that of General John J. Pershing. Many other items in this group carry other signatures, including A. Santos-Dumont (1873-1932), the Brazilian aeronaut first to construct and fly in 1898 a gasoline-powered airship. Santos-Dumont was a close friend of Woodhouse, and other documents also bear his signature.

This brief summary only touches on the scope of this enormous and important early aviation archive. Further careful study and analysis of these varied documents will indeed reveal a new wealth of additional information regarding the early states of aviation in the United States. Woodhouse was a fascinating as well as controversial herald of aviation and more about him lies in this large collection of his material. 4-56963 CW1 (17,500-27,500)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2005

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	4325	$0.00	THE HENRY WOODHOUSE ARCHIVE RELATING TO EARLY AVIATION. Following is a selection of early aviation archives and correspondence of Henry Woodhouse (1894-1970), and those of the Aero Club of America, a spin-off in 1905 from the Auto Club of America, and which operated until 1922 when it became the National Aeronautic Association. Woodhouse, born in Turin, Italy, came to the United States in 1905. Fascinated with early aviation, around 1909 he began writing articles about flying that appeared in The Independent, Collier’s Weekly, McClure’s Metropolitan, and World’s Work. With the assistance and backing of Robert J. Collier and Henry A. Wise Wood, he founded the magazine Flying, becoming its managing editor. Flying, after a successful start, began to lose money, but Henry continued publishing with his own capital. At this time, 1915, Aerial Age Weekly was born with his assistance, and Woodhouse claimed that these journals were the official publication of the Aero Club of America. No mention in the Club’s records substantiate this claim. Prior to 1915 Woodhouse had been an active peace worker, but that year, with World War I raging in Europe, he became an outspoken supporter of the national defense movement. He was an advisor to Polar explorers Peary, Amundsen, and Shackleton, and was instrumental in obtaining airplanes and scientific instruments for the 1916 and 1922 expeditions. Woodhouse authored two books on military aviation, the first on the Naval application to flying, the second on the Army or ground applications. Woodhouse was considered by some to be a wheeler-dealer, but, in spite of many of his methods, he was a great contributor to the growth of early aviation in America. He never married, and upon his death, with his wealth then depleted, he left what remained to his housekeeper. In this vast treasure trove of ephemera are items which have names inked on them such as Gen. John J. Pershing etc. We cannot guarantee whether these are orig signatures or for identification purposes, but all items in this lot come from Woodhouse’s archive. Due to the large number and variety of documents and ephemera, this collection has been divided into categories consisting of periodicals, United States Government documents, printed ephemera, the Pan American Aero conferences, Aero Club of America, Admiral Robert E. Peary, the First Yale Unit (Naval Aviation 1917), and many others of early aeronautical interest. Further to this explanation, there are over two thousand documents which have been sorted by subject and individually placed in protective clear archival sleeves. Twenty-three broad subjects have been generally collated and are separated for ease in future referencing. The majority of the material relates to a ten-year period from 1912-1922, although from the lighter-than-air section there is a handwritten log of an ascension on 9 October 1900 by the French balloonist De La Poulse for a duration of thirty-five hours and forty-five minutes. This is a rare and unusual early document. Much of the general correspondence relates to interesting communications between the early aviation manufacturers and Woodhouse regarding their machines and advertisements in his magazines. In the Wright Brothers section, letters indicate Woodhouse was actively engaged in crediting them for the first flight and memorializing the Wrights through his magazines via special numbers and the first Pan-American Aeronautic Exposition. The letters from the Wright Company are signed by senior executives of the firm. Woodhouse was a great admirer of the Polar explorers Peary, Amundsen and Shackleton and supported and promoted their efforts in any way possible. The Peary file contains a wealth of material on him, with copies of his remarks, telegrams, and letters from Peary’s wife and daughter. The letters give a personal insight into the man. In the file is an orig copy of a House of Representative August 2, 1916 Joint Resolution, H.J. 287, which was an unsuccessful attempt to repeal Peary’s promotion to Admiral and his retirement pension. The resolution did not pass. An autograph of Captain Roald Amundsen, discovered of the South Pole, is also a part of the collection. Among the 75 orig photographs are rare shots of airplanes, pilots, airships, motors, ships, and a scarce and wonderful full-length photo of Hobey Baker, the famous Princeton hockey and football star. Baker in 1918 commanded a World War I fighter squadron and was sadly killed in an air crash in December of that year, days before he was to return to the United States. Woodhouse was a great advocate of “Aerial Mail Service” and there is a great deal of his and the Aero Club of America correspondence regarding the promotion of airmail and its final success in 1917. Prior to World War I hundreds of state, city, college, and private aero clubs were formed and in the collection are examples of their colorful stationery, with requests to the Aero Club of America and Woodhouse’s magazines for recognition. Various copies of the Woodhouse magazines, Flying, Aerial Age, and Scientific Age are part of the twenty-four titles found in the important periodical collection of some 95 issues in all. Woodhouse was also a great proponent of building a strong naval air arm and his efforts were rewarded with the establishment of the National Aerial Coast Patrol Commission. He encouraged the formation of the “First Yale Unit”, a Naval aviation unit made up of Yale men and in reality it was the start of naval flying. This file contains correspondence and clippings on F. Trubee Davison, the organizer of the Yale Unit and in the minds of many, the father of Naval aviation. The balloon collection of over eighty items contains important orig ink drawings of twenty-four balloons of Italian, French, Belgian, Russian and British manufacture. The dates of these airships, illustrated, are from 1884-1912. The named and dated renderings are highly detailed in black ink with white highlights. The date of the drawings would be about 1912-1913 and in all probability were used in one or more of Woodhouse’s early magazines. These are rare and most decorative. The Woodhouse archive also contains a wealth of printed ephemera. The sixty-four items include many early aircraft and engine manufacturers brochures. Two outstanding examples include a very scarce, highly illustrated 1910 catalog of the French aviation sales company C.I.N.A. in which was offered twelve different aero planes with photos, drawings and prices, seven aircraft engines with the same information, two airships and four different style propellers, and the beautifully presented brochure of the Duesenberg Motor Company, a branch of the famous Duesenberg Auto Company. Illustrated are well-known types of boats of the 1920s owned by the wealthy sports enthusiasts and businessmen of the time, and examples of boats used by the Navy, all equipped with Duesenberg engines. Other ephemera items include a map of Paris and a 1917 aircraft identification booklet bearing the ink signature believed to be that of General John J. Pershing. Many other items in this group carry other signatures, including A. Santos-Dumont (1873-1932), the Brazilian aeronaut first to construct and fly in 1898 a gasoline-powered airship. Santos-Dumont was a close friend of Woodhouse, and other documents also bear his signature. This brief summary only touches on the scope of this enormous and important early aviation archive. Further careful study and analysis of these varied documents will indeed reveal a new wealth of additional information regarding the early states of aviation in the United States. Woodhouse was a fascinating as well as controversial herald of aviation and more about him lies in this large collection of his material. 4-56963 CW1 (17,500-27,500) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2005 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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