Die Möglichkeit der Weltraumfahrt [The Possibility of Interplanetary Travel].

pioneering space travel enthusiast

Presentation copy of the first edition inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, 'To my friend R.D. Swisher, with my best wishes, Willy Ley'. One of the earliest books by this important promoter of space exploration. Rare, particularly in the dust jacket.

Willy Otto Oskar Lay (1906-1969) became interested in rocketry after reading Hermann Oberth's technical work Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (1923). Aged only 19, he wrote a popularisation of the book's contents, beginning his career as a prolific author. He was one of the first members of the amateur Society for Space Travel (Verein für Raumschiffahrt), corresponded with international rocketry experts, and served as a key technical consultant on Fritz Lang's Woman in the Moon (Die Frau im Mond), the first film to depict realistic space flight.

Ley was deeply opposed to Nazism and fled Germany in 1935. He settled in the United States, where his background aligned with the post-war explosion of interest in space exploration and science fiction. In addition to many one-off books and articles, he published a regular column in Galaxy Science Fiction, appeared in the 1955 Disney programme 'Man in Space', and was cited by the US House of Representatives Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration.

First edition, presentation copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper; 8vo; 2 plates of portraits from photographs, illustrations within the text, contents toned in the margins; original buff cloth blocked in black with rocket design to the upper board, top edge dyed red, a very good copy in the rubbed and partially tanned jacket with some tiny chips and short splits; 344pp.