RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS: An excellent set of twelve vintage signed colour postcard photographs by each ...

RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS: An excellent set of twelve vintage signed colour postcard photographs by each of the first eleven Russian cosmonauts in space comprising Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968; the first human to journey into outer space, travelling on Vostok 1, 12 ^th April 1961, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and medals), Gherman Titov (1935-2000; Vostok 2, 6 ^th – 7 ^th August 1961, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and medals), Andriyan Nikolayev (1929-2004; Vostok 3, 11 ^th – 15 ^th August 1962, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and medals), Pavel Popovich (1930-2009; Vostok 4, 12 ^th -15 ^th August 1962, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and medals), Valery Bykovsky (1934-2019; Vostok 5, 14 ^th – 19 ^th June 1963, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and medals), Valentina Tereshkova (1937- , the first woman ever to fly in space, travelling on Vostok 6, 16 ^th – 19 ^th June 1963, the image depicting her in a head and shoulders pose wearing two medals), Konstantin Feoktistov (1926-2009; Voskhod 1, 12 ^th October 1964, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing a suit and two medals, accompanied by his fellow Voskhod 1 crew members), Vladimir Komarov (1927-1967; Voskhod 1, 12 ^th October 1964, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and medals), a second signed postcard photograph by Konstantin Feoktistov (the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing a suit and two medals), Boris Yegorov (1937-1994; Voskhod 1, 12 ^th October 1964, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing a suit and two medals), Pavel Belyayev (1925-1970; Voskhod 2, 18 ^th March 1965, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and medals) and Alexei Leonov (1934-2019; the first person to conduct a spacewalk, Voskhod 2, 18 ^th March 1965, the image depicting him in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and medals). Each of the photographs are signed by the cosmonauts in blue, red or black inks with their names alone, largely to lighter areas of the images. Komarov´s signature is a little light in places. All of the postcard photographs are bound together in the original presentation booklet with decorative paper wrappers, and one additional unsigned postcard photograph is included in the set, the image depicting Belyayev and Leonov seated together in half-length poses and engaged in conversation as they review some documents on the table before them. It is unusual to find such sets of postcards in their original bound form as the majority of similar signed postcard photographs which are encountered today have been separated from the booklets at their perforated edges. VG