West With The Night: The Illustrated Edition. by Markham, Beryl - 1983.. 0865473048

San Francisco::: North Point,,, 1983.. 0865473048. A Fine tight unread copy in a Near Fine unclipped dust jacket with light fading to the top edge of the spine. Beryl Markham, a pioneer aviator, was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from London to North America. In the late 20s after her first marriage failed, she returned to Kenya where she met and befriended Denys Finch Hatton, a well-known big-game hunter and in the 30s(?) lover of another woman writer Isak Dinesen. Karen Blixen was a friend and confidant to Beryl Markham, seventeen years younger. Beryl first stayed at Karen Blixen's home in 1923. When she married Mansfield Markham (the second of her three marriages) in 1927, Karen Blixen lent her house for the honeymoon. In 1928 Beryl, five months pregnant, was invited to dine at Karen Blixen's house with Denys Finch Hatton and the Prince of Wales (later Duke of Windsor). In 1930 Finch Hatton received his pilot's license and bought a Gypsy Moth airplane. He would entertain friends with airplane rides, including Dinesen and Markham. Markham found the experience so thrilling she took lessons and acquired her own pilot's license. In 1942, she published her memoirs which appeared on 13 best-seller lists. West with the Night tells the story of Markham's childhood in Kenya, her unconventional career as a bush pilot, and her pioneering transatlantic flight. Eventually sales began to decline, and the book was forgotten. She died in Kenya in 1986 at the age of 84..