Auction Name: 2025 December 11 - 12 Space Exploration Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 50040

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6326*50040

Mercury Seven NASA Astronaut Group One Signed Book: Martin Caidin. The Astronauts. The Story of Project Mercury, America's Man-in-Space Program. Illustrated by Fred L. Wolff. (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1960), first edition, 192 pages, black cloth with yellow title on spine, 5.5" x 8.25", dust jacket. Signed on the free front endpaper by all seven of NASA's original Mercury program astronauts. Scott Carpenter has inscribed the book to his son's teacher at the Langley Air Force Base school: "Dec. 1960/ For Marian Smith with best/ wishes from the Mercury Astronauts." Beneath, each astronaut has clearly and boldly signed their names on separate lines: "Virgil I. Grissom/ John H. Glenn, Jr./ Alan B. Shepard, Jr/ Donald K. Slayton/ M. Scott Carpenter/ Leroy G. Cooper Jr./ Walter M Schirra Jr". Note the early and extremely desirable full forms of their signatures before shorter versions and nicknames became commonly used. This was signed the month before Alan Shepard was chosen to be the first American in space, a flight that would take place May 5, 1961, on Freedom 7. The book is in very good condition; the dust jacket exhibits some light soiling and wear with a tear on the back.

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