1948 Landelle Pictorial Gastronomic Map of France

This is a 1948 Willy Landelle pictorial map of France celebrating the country's gastronomic and touristic wonders. The map follows shortly after World War II (1939 - 1945), a period where France, devastated by the war, was eager to rebuild is touristic and economic infrastructure. Pictorial vignettes promote French cuisine, cheese, wine, cognac, and other agricultural products. Illustrated tourist sites include the Eiffel Tower in Paris, cathedrals in Strasbourg, Angers, Poitiers, and Rouen, and the Roman arena in Nimes. The world-famous Chenonceau Chateau appears just below the city of Blois and to the right of Tours, marking the celebrated Loire River Valley and its estates. Skiers are illustrated in the Pyrenees, while beach bathers frolic in the French Riviera.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Willy Landelle and published by Jacques-Petit in Paris in 1948. We note a single other example, at the David Rumsey Collection at Stanford. Otherwise, we see no sale record on the private market or other institutional holdings.