A Superb RAF Presentation Copy from Sir John Salmond to Viscount Portal, with Note
LAFFIN, John. Swifter than Eagles: The Biography of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Maitland Salmond.
London and Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons Ltd, 1964.
First edition, first impression. Octavo. Original blue cloth, gilt lettering to spine, in the original dust jacket. Signed boldly by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Maitland Salmond on the front free endpaper, with two accompanying documents: a printed publisher’s slip stating that the copy was “Sent on the instructions of Sir John Salmond”, and a handwritten note from Salmond to “Peter”, Charles Portal’s familiar name.
A superb RAF presentation copy from one Marshal of the Royal Air Force to another, linking two of the most important figures in the development of British air power. Sir John Salmond, one of the founding generation of senior RAF commanders, had served as Chief of the Air Staff in the late 1920s and again briefly in 1930, helping shape the inter-war service that Portal would later lead through the decisive years of the Second World War. Portal, as Chief of the Air Staff from 1940 to 1945, became the central RAF figure in the direction of Britain’s wartime air strategy.
The accompanying note, dated 23 October 1964 and addressed to “Sir Peter”, reads approximately: “You have already read some of this - but I hope the rest will interest you - yours, John.” This is a notably personal survival, suggesting that Portal had prior knowledge of the material and that Salmond wished him to see the completed biography.
A fine copy in a very good, bright dust jacket, with some creasing, rubbing and small tears to the extremities, but unusually well preserved. A highly significant association copy, strengthened considerably by the retained note and publisher’s transmission slip.
