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Mary Evans Picture Library flying high with their newest contributor, the Royal Aeronautical Society

Mary Evans Picture Library, the UK's leading source for historical images, is delighted to announce it is now representing the archive collection of the National Aerospace Library, part of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Since its formation in 1866, the Library of the Royal Aeronautical Society - the oldest aeronautical society in the world - has evolved into the National Aerospace Library to become one of the world's major collections. It traces the evolution of man's attempts to conquer the dream of flight from prehistory to modern times through a fascinating mix of books, pamphlets, journals, reports, letters, photographs, lithographs, posters and other non-book material.

One of the key collections of the archive is a striking and nostalgic set of aviation posters. The 1920s and 1930s witnessed a golden age of flying as major advances in air travel and aircraft design brought aviation to the forefront of the public imagination. The Society holds around 150 aviation posters from this time, relating to both individual airlines such as Imperial Airways and KLM and the Royal Air Force air displays at Hendon. The designs reflect and play on public fascination with this most glamorous and fashionable form of transport. The clean lines and flat colours produce powerful graphic statements while emphasising the desirability of speed and the freedom of taking to the skies.

In addition, the library houses one of the world's finest collections of early hot air ballooning material with lithographs, prints and posters forming an impressive visual record of man's early ascents into the air.

These two preliminary collections from the Royal Aeronautical Society are available exclusively through Mary Evans and offer a magnificent introduction to this prestigious archive with photographic material due to be added shortly.

Tom Gillmor, Head of Content at Mary Evans Picture Library says, "We have found that posters, and poster art, particularly anything related to travel and transport, have been incredibly popular over the past few years. Not only does the Royal Aeronautical Society collection offer a unique insight into the history of flight for our editorial clients, but the bold and often quirky designs have great potential for greetings cards, calendars and other forms of merchandise."

For a selection of all these magnificent flying-machines, please click here.

For further information, please contact:

Luci Gosling
Mary Evans Picture Library
59 Tranquil Vale
London SE3 0BS, UK
T: +44 (0)20 8318 0034
F: +44 (0)20 8852 7211
luci.gosling@maryevans.com