Pre-World War I, French Geography (Department) Cards

Postcards : French Geography Cards

 

Sweetpea Cottage has located something especially for you Francophiles or Francophones. We are offering a set of cards that would have been used years ago in school to help students learn their French geography. Each card lists a specific French Department, the regional governing bodies in France, along with all of the vital statistics about each department. What is most interesting about the cards is the number of territories that are included, such as Tunisia, Algeria, Constantine, Indochina, Inde, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Reunion Islands, Martinique, New Caledonia, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Senegal, Tahiti, and Oran. Indochina is one of the cards which eventually became Viet Nam and much of present-day Southeast Asia. Infamous spots such as the Mekong River, Hanoi, Tonkin, and Saigon are all listed and described. The set has a total of 102 cards present and they were printed by Librairie Hachette, Saint-Germain Boulevard, Paris. They all measure approximately 4 ½ inches by 3 1/4 inches, although there is some small variation in size from card to card. The stock that they are printed on is similar to playing card stock, so they are stiff and not easily bent or folded. We have tried to determine the date of the set, but have been unable to establish a firm time-frame in our research. Many of the cards, however, list statistics which are dated up to 1882 and we found none any later than 1884. In our opinion, it would be safe to say that the set precedes World War I.

The condition is good. They have the normal yellowing associated with old paper and have some random spots and stains on some of them. There are also a few with pencil marks, probably used by a student to represent notations used in class. A couple of them have corners knocked off, but none are severely damaged. They are quite readable, assuming you understand French, and provide an interesting glimpse into French history.

Sweetpea Cottage stands behind everything that we sell. If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, then we will refund the full purchase price minus shipping charges. We ask that you notify us via email within 3 days of receiving your purchase that you intend to return it. Once it is returned to us in a timely fashion and in original condition, then we will issue your refund. Shipping for this rarity will be $6.00, which includes insurance for the full price of the item. Shop with confidence with us and you will never be disappointed.

Item ID: CPFrC-134