The Spirit of St. Louis.

First edition of Lindbergh's autobiographical account about the events leading up to and including his 1927 solo trans-Atlantic flight. Octavo, original blue cloth, illustrated endpapers, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author a month before the date of publication on the title page, "To Walter and Elizabeth Bartky With best wishes from Charles A. Lindbergh August, 1953 Publication date is Sept. 14th." The recipient, Walter Bartky was an American educator and mathematician and friend of the Lindberghs. After receiving a Ph.D. from the university, he served on its faculty in the astronomy department. In 1943 he became associate dean of the University of Chicago’s Division of Physical Sciences. During the Manhattan Project, Bartky served as the Metallurgical Laboratory’s associate director. Bartky was a signatory of the Szilard Petition. In 1945, he accompanied Leo Szilard and Harold Urey to present a memorandum to future Secretary of State James F. Byrnes that warned of the dangers of a nuclear arms race. Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket with light shelfwear. An exceptional signed example.