Astronauts photos

An image from Ed White’s personal photograph album of the Gemini 4 mission, June 1965, showing Ed White’s EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) taken by James McDivitt. Thirty vintage chromogenic prints from his personal collection will go up for auction. NASA/National News/Zuma Press

Several photographs taken in space by NASA’s pioneering astronauts, many of them previously unseen, will be on display at Mallett Antiques in London through most of February before going to auction with the larger collection at Bloomsbury Auctions Feb. 26. in London.

Among the notable photos in the collection: a space sunrise from Michael Collins, a Gemini 10 and Apollo 11 astronaut; the first view of a spacecraft in space; and a photo taken by Buzz Aldrin of himself, conceivably the first selfie in space.

The collection, “From the Earth to the Moon: Vintage NASA Photographs of the First Voyages Beyond Our Home Plant, ” features both iconic and rare vintage photographs. NASA typically only publicly released a small number of the astronauts’ photographs following each mission, while the lion’s share was archived at centers only accessible to researchers.

Unique to the portfolio are oversized prints specially produced for NASA, as well as Hasselblad panoramic mosaics of the Moon pieced together from individual frames. Thirty vintage 8×10 chromogenic prints from astronaut Ed White’s personal collection of photographs document the Gemini 4 mission and the first spacewalk by an American.

Among the photos in the collection by Mr. Collins is an image of a space sunrise that once graced the cover of Life Magazine in 1966.

“It’s human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice really, it’s an imperative, ” Mr. Collins has said.

With more than 650 works in total, spanning 1945 to 1972, the collection is “comprehensive in its coverage of the space program, from the early days of Mercury, through the technical advances of Gemini and Lunar Orbiter, to the triumphs of Apollo, ” according to Bloomsbury, the auction house.

An image from Ed White’s personal photograph album of the Gemini 4 mission, June 1965, showing preparation for the mission. NASA/National News/Zuma Press An image from Ed White’s personal photograph album of the Gemini 4 mission, June 1965, showing the launch. NASA/National News/Zuma Press An image from Ed White’s personal photograph album of the Gemini 4 mission, June 1965, showing preparation for the mission. NASA/National News/Zuma Press The first view of a spacecraft in space taken by Ed White during the EVA, from his personal collection of the Gemini 4 mission, June 1965. NASA/National News/Zuma Press Astronauts’ launch preparations for the Gemini 4 mission, June 1965. NASA/National News/Zuma Press A view of the earth from orbit from the Gemini 4 mission, June 1965.