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Emilio Milisenda
UMBERTO NOBILE E IL VOLO
TRANSPOLARE DEL "NORGE"
storia, posta, documenti e curiosità

176 pp. - more than 450 colour illustrations - format cm 21x29,7 - high quality glossy paper - softbound - printed 2016 - reprinted 2021
series "History through documents"
Italian text

ISBN: 978-88-96381-13-7
UMBERTO NOBILE AND "NORGE" TRANSPOLAR FLIGHT
history, mail, documents and memorabilia

This is an adventurous and charming journey to conquer the North Pole, in the 90th anniversary of the Expedition, in 2016. Umberto Nobile and the history of Norge transpolar flight, narrated by means of more than 450 images of philatelic and complementary documents: photos, postcards, air letters, telegrams, invitations, menus, magazines, postage stamps, vignettes, cancellations, medals, calendars, ...

The enterprise, accomplished in 1926 by the intrepid Umberto Nobile, Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth, on board the airship "N 1", later named "Norge", was possible thanks to the intelligence and to the perseverance of the Italian fearless General of the Aircraft Engineering, designer and creator of semi-rigid airships. Nobile directed the flight of "Norge", from Rome to the islands of Svalbard, and from the archipelago, across the North Pole, up to Teller, opening the Polar Route.

From the encounter between Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile, to the preparation of the expedition, to the modifications introduced to airship "N 1", to the route to follow, to the choice of the crew, to the supporting bases for the airship, to the materials, to food, to clothing, to fuel... up the realisation of a journey intriguing and rich in hidden dangers.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Fiorenzo Longhi
Preface by Emilio Milisenda

PART I
Umberto Nobile and "Norge" transpolar flight narrated by means of photographs, postcards, air letters, telegrams, invitations, menus, magazines

PART II
Postage stamps, cancellations, vignettes, commemorative postcards, medals, calendars, relevant to "Norge" and to personalities of the polar expedition in 1926

Bibliography
FOREWORD by Fiorenzo Longhi

It is clear from the first pages that this book is what is called a "labour of love", an absolutely uncommon work, the result of the dual unbounded passion for aviation and for "aerofilia", and written with skill and balance without any of the two subjects prevailing over the other.

It is difficult to resist the fascination of the events relevant to Umberto Nobile and to the conquest of the North Pole with his airship N.1 named "Norge", that the author narrates accurately both from the historical and chronological point of view and from the aerophilatelic one, without neglecting the interesting, and sometimes unique, complementary documents.

There is, in the first part of the book, an accurate analysis of the cataloguing of the known air letters of that period that goes far beyond, as to precision and critical analysis, the one of my catalogue "Aerofilia Italiana", by which it is inspired.

The author rightly and proudly highlights the world record of 91 transpolar air letters carried aboard "Norge" from Spitzbergen base to the North Pole and to Alaska.

Among the above mentioned letters, on page 67, the reproduction of the only air letter, up to now, known with Ciampino cancellation, the handwritten address and the additional franking: a jewel in Milisenda collection.

The second part of the book includes a detailed list of postage stamps, cancellations, postcards, commemorative air letters of the post-war period, medals, calendars and magazines both of that period and of the modern times, that leaves us astonished for its completeness.
Also Lauro, in the province of Avellino, Umberto Nobile's birthplace, is recalled together with "Umberto Nobile Museum" devoted to the General.

The volume, very well illustrated also with period photographs, maps and documents, while reminding us that exciting part of the history of aviation, describes, gradually, types and characteristics of air mail and of the postmarks and cancellations used. The work is the exact expression of "aerofilia", that is the close link between aeronautic and airmail history, enriched by the study of air letters and of postal issues.

It is a work that honours not only the Author, but also the aerophilatelic research for the decisive contribution that has offered, and still offers, to historical research in general.

An extensive bibliography and a detailed index make further surveys and consultation easier.

******************************
PREFACE by Emilio Milisenda

Philatelic passion, that I had since my early age, has accompanied me over the years to the research and to the deepening of the study of aerophilatelic and complementary documents. During this route, I often chanced upon enthusiastic records of "Norge" airship Polar Expedition.

The material recovered in numerous years of patient research, and that I have catalogued in chronological order, from the preparation of the Polar Expedition, by Umberto Nobile, until the overfly of the North Pole and the landing in Alaska, has impassioned me so much as to make me feel as if I was participating in that epic enterprise.

The conquest of the North Pole, accomplished by the intrepid Umberto Nobile, Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth, on board the airship "N 1", later named "Norge", was possible thanks to the intelligence and to the perseverance of the Italian fearless General of the Aircraft Engineering, designer and creator of semi-rigid airships. Nobile directed "Norge" flight from Rome to the islands of Svalbard, and from the archipelago, across the North Pole, up to Teller, opening the Polar Route.

This work, that retraces its history, is divided into two parts.
The first one deals with the proper Expedition of airship "Norge" in 1926, and summarizes the chronological events of the various phases by means of photos, postcards, air letters, telegrams, invitations, menus, magazines.
The second part includes the summary, as far as possible, of the philatelic and complementary commemorative material of the Polar Expedition, and related to the characters involved, up to the present days; postage stamps, vignettes, cancellations, postcards, medals, calendars, ...

The various publications, books and specialized magazines, such as "Il Polo", "Aida Flash", "Turinpolar" have been important to deepen the historical knowledge about "Norge" Polar Expedition and the environmental one about the Arctic.

The classification of the documentary-philatelic material of that period has been possible thanks to the well-known catalogue by Fiorenzo Longhi printed in 2007 (updated in 2011) "Aerofilia italiana - Catalogo storico descrittivo 1898-1941", that was primary for cataloguing the aerophilatelic production and the complementary documentation. My reference to classify modern air letters has been the "Catalogo generale della posta aerea in Italia 1941-2015", by Paolo Pellegrini. This work of mine shows no valuations, for which reference should be made to the above mentioned catalogues.

The images included in the various pages, partly in reduced reproductions for reasons of space, make the adventurous and fascinating enterprise easier and more noticeable in its entirety: from the encounter between Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile, to the preparation of the expedition, to the modifications introduced to airship "N 1", to the route to follow, to the choice of the crew, to the supporting bases for the airship, to the materials, to food, to clothing, to fuel... up the realisation of a journey intriguing and rich in hidden dangers.
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