French Air Force Founders Roques Bouttiaux Painleve Press Photo 5.75x4.25 For Sale

1911 French Air Force Founders Roques Bouttiaux Painleve Press Photo 5.75x4.25
International Press Photo Co. Original, Fully Captioned, Named Historic FiguresDESCRIPTIONYou're looking at an original early-1910s press photograph documenting the men who built France's military air force from nothing.The photo captures four men beside an early wire-braced monoplane.A full handwritten caption on the reverse identifies the group left to right as Lieut. Col. Bouttiaux, General Roques, and M. Painlevé, with the unnamed fourth man described as the aircraft's inventor, shown explaining the machine's mechanism to the group.Here's who you're actually getting:General Pierre Roques was France's first Permanent Inspector of Military Aeronautics, appointed in October 1910. He is credited as the founder and organizer of French military aviation, and it was Roques who decided in November 1911 that military aircraft would officially be called "avions," the term still used in French today. He later served as France's Minister of War in 1916.Colonel Bouttiaux commanded France's first military aeronautical group ("1er groupe aéronautique militaire"), based at Versailles. Contemporary newspaper coverage from 1909 places Bouttiaux and Painlevé together at the same public event discussing military aviation, Bouttiaux on dirigibles, Painlevé on aeroplanes, showing these men moved in the same aviation circles years before this photo was taken.Paul Painlevé was a mathematician, member of the Institut de France (Académie des sciences), and one of aviation's earliest and most influential public advocates. He had personally flown as a passenger with both Wilbur Wright and Henri Farman, setting endurance records in the process, and co-authored one of the first serious books on aviation's military potential. He went on to serve as French Minister of War and twice as Prime Minister of France.This photo places all three men together examining an early aircraft with its unnamed inventor, almost certainly in the 1911-1912 window when Roques held the Inspector role, right at the moment French military aviation was being invented as an institution.The photo carries the stamp of the International Press Photo Co. (Franz Otto Koch, Prop., 108 Fulton St., New York), a legitimate early wire/press photo agency, along with period file notations.A striking, fully-documented piece of early aviation history for a collector who wants more than an unidentified biplane snapshot, this one comes with the names, the roles, and the story already attached.Measurements: approximately 5.75x4.25 inches.CONDITIONOriginal period press photograph, silver gelatin print on photographic paper. Shows honest age: light corner wear and a couple of small edge nicks (see photos), scattered small surface spotting/foxing consistent with age, and a faint vertical crease/soft bend visible on the right side of the print.Image itself remains clear and fully readable, with strong contrast throughout and no tears through the image area. Reverse has the full period handwritten caption in pencil, a red pencil archive notation ("60/19"), a purple grease-pencil "2," and the International Press Photo Co. credit stamp affixed and partially legible in reverse/mirror print through the paper. No later repairs, no trimming apparent. Sold as-is, please review all photos closely.

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