Gagarin, Yu. A. [extended autograph to A. G. Rytov] The Road to Space. Notes of a USSR Pilot-Cosmonaut. Moscow: Pravda, 1961. 1 p. frontispiece. (ill.), 224 p.: ill. 20.5 × 13 cm. In publisher's binding and dust jacket. Scuffs on the spine of the dust jacket, the block is clean, in good condition.

On the endpaper there is a dedication from the first cosmonaut: “To Andrei Gerasimovich Rytov, our ideological mentor. In memory of the preparation and execution of the first space flight, in which you took direct part. With deep respect and gratitude. Gagarin. 11/14/61”.

Andrei Gerasimovich Rytov (1907-1967) - Soviet political worker, Colonel General of Aviation (1961). After the Great Patriotic War, he served in senior military-political positions in the Air Force: as the Chief of the Air Force Political Directorate of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and the Navy; from 1951, a member of the Military Council of the Air Defence Forces; in 1953-1967, he was the Chief of the Political Directorate and a member of the Military Council of the USSR Air Force.

Provenance: from the family archive of Aviation General A.G. Rytov (1907-1967)

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