CANIFF, Milton. [Neil Armstrong].
Milton Caniff Signed First Day Cover, Inscribed to Neil Armstrong.
[United States]: 1979.
$2,000.00
In Stock
Item Number: RRB-152810
+$500
Milton Caniff First Day Cover for the First Man on the Moon; Inscribed by Its Designer to Neil Armstrong, From the Armstrong Family Collection
An extraordinary NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club First Day Cover for the First Man on the Moon issue, designed and inscribed to Neil Armstrong by its artist, the legendary cartoonist Milton Caniff. Caniff's cachet depicts astronauts on the lunar surface, and beside it he has written to Armstrong in black felt tip, "Neil, drawn from life, but at a very long distance! Cordially, Milton Caniff Palm Springs, March 7, 1979." The cover bears a 10-cent First Man on the Moon airmail stamp with a First Day of Issue cancellation and a Moon Landing, July 20, 1969 pictorial postmark. Milton Caniff was an American illustrator and cartoonist best known for the comic strips Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon. A founder of the National Cartoonists Society who served two terms as its president, he received the Society's first Cartoonist of the Year Award in 1947, was named Cartoonist of the Year again in 1972 with its Reuben trophy, won an Inkpot Award in 1974, and was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1988. The cover measures 6.5 inches by 3.75 inches and has been certified and encapsulated by Collectibles Authentication Guaranty to an overall size of 8 inches by 5.5 inches. In fine condition with only very light wear typical of mailed pieces. Accompanied by a letter of provenance from The Armstrong Family Collection, signed by Mark and Rick Armstrong, certifying that the piece was owned and saved by the Armstrong family.
American test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) became the first human to walk on the Moon, a defining moment in the history of exploration. Raised in Ohio and trained as a naval aviator, he flew combat missions in Korea before moving into the highest ranks of experimental aviation at Edwards Air Force Base. Selected by NASA in 1962, Armstrong first flew in space as command pilot of Gemini 8 (1966), achieving the first docking of two spacecraft and then regaining control of the mission during a perilous in-orbit spin. As commander of Apollo 11, he led the July 20, 1969 landing in the Sea of Tranquility and stepped onto the lunar surface, delivering the mission’s characteristically restrained line, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” After returning to Earth, he largely sidestepped celebrity, focusing instead on service to aviation and space policy, teaching aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati, and contributing to major accident inquiries, including the Rogers Commission for Challenger. Known for technical mastery and personal modesty, Armstrong remains a central figure in 20th-century science and the story of human spaceflight.
Milton Caniff Signed First Day Cover, Inscribed to Neil Armstrong.
$2,000.00
In Stock