We Seven. By the Astronauts Themselves.

CARPENTER, M. Scott; Cooper.

$975.00

Item Number: 144379

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962.

First edition, early printing of this first-hand account of the genesis of America’s manned space program. Octavo, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by Mercury Seven Astronauts on the front free endpaper, “Bob Best wishes- Scott Carpenter and John Glenn. Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by Paul Bacon.

“The first seven American astronauts were an admirable group of individuals chosen to sit at the apex of a pyramid of human effort… In volunteering to entrust their lives to Mercury’s spirit and Atlas’ strength to blaze a trail for man into the empyrean, they chose to lead by following the opportunity that chance, circumstance, technology and history had prepared for them” (Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander, 164-65). We Seven chronicles the beginnings of American manned space exploration from the perspectives of those who pioneered it, with each member of Project Mercury contributing at least three essay-length sections.