MERMOZ (Jean)

Lot 410
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Estimation :
10000 - 15000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 12 350EUR
MERMOZ (Jean)
Speech after his first crossing of the South Atlantic. [Rio de Janeiro, May 26, 1930]. 3 p. on 2 ff. in-4 (26.9 x 20.9 cm) of engraved letterhead from the Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, black ink. Autograph working manuscript of the beautiful and lyrical speech given by Mermoz after his first crossing of the South Atlantic. Mermoz made the crossing on 12 and 13 May 1930, from Saint-Louis-du-Sénégal to Natal, aboard the seaplane Latécoère 28-3, Comte de la Vaulx. "I am a little moved and my modesty tonight is put to a singular test. Moreover, my non-existent oratory talents leave me completely confused as I cannot respond as I would like to the affectionate compliments that Mr. A[l]A[mbassadeur] de F[rance] and Mr. B[ouilloux] L[afont]. What Dabry, Gimié and I have done, others will do soon". He shares his emotion at the moment they touched Natal: "We succeeded and our greatest reward was the minute when, already in sight of Natal, we thought as a real airmail crew that we are, that the mail from France had arrived from Paris in two days and almost on schedule... to the goal". He modestly downplays the performance achieved: "Now, what I have to say first of all is that we have really only completed one of the stages of the line that links Paris to B[uenos-]Aires. One stage may be a little longer than the others, but I never felt I was doing more than when I was doing a mail on B[uenos-]Aires -Rio day and night in all weathers. [...]. The airmail pilot has the least self-effacing role, perhaps, but the most arduous one, and if he is required to make an exceptional physical effort, there is no need to demand from him the necessary spirit to make the mail arrive at the set goal in the minimum amount of time. He has it... it is in him... this magic word "mail" is enough to give him a tenacious will, a resolute energy, a spirit of sacrifice, qualities which are necessary to overcome the many obstacles which cannot fail to be encountered on the
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