Several hundred antique French and foreign postcards present - Lot 634

Several hundred antique French and foreign postcards presented in two boxes (over 3,000 cards, but not counted). There are cards from Switzerland (over 200), including Basel Barfüsserplatz, Hermance Rue du Midi et la Place, Geneva, Leysin including winter sports, Luzern, Fribourg and numerous mountain views. We also have maps of Belgium, Spain, including several of Lequitio, Fuenterrabia and Toledo, Germany, Italy with numerous tourist maps, including two illustrated maps: Florence for the 1911 Flower Show and the Greek Theater in Syracuse, the United States and Canada. In France, the Basses and Hautes Pyrénées are well represented, with Le Grau du Roi returning from tuna fishing. The majority of these cards are general views, monuments or landscapes. Another interesting feature of this set is that many of the cards are addressed to Mr. Pierre De Nolhac (1859-1936), Curator of the Château de Versailles between 1892 and 1920, and member of the Académie Française in 1922. It was he who decided to recover the original works that adorned the Château de Versailles in the 18th century, and his policy is still applied today. Some of these cards were written by famous or learned people, including : Paolo Arcari (1879-1955) Professor of Italian literature and writer, an illustrated card by French poet Auguste Pierre Garnier with text + autograph signature, Antonio Carbonati (1893-1956) Italian painter, four cards by Jean Rivain (1883-1957) French writer, Maurice Allem (1872-1959) historian of French literature, Henri Soulange-Bodin (1885-1965) French historian, Emile de Saint Auban (1858-1947) extreme right-wing French journalist and anti-Semite, Mabille de Poncheville (1886-1969) writer and poet, Emmanuel Déborde de Montcorin (1858-1941) writer, Ernest de Ganay (1880-1963) historian of gardens and castles, Georges Grappe art historian and curator of the Rodin Museum, André Foulon de Vaulx (1873-1951) French poet and novelist, a letter from Frédéric Masson (1847-1923) French historian and perpetual secretary of the Académie Française, two visiting cards from Académiciens Albert Sorel (1842-1906) and Henry Houssaye (1848-1911), a letter from Jacques Maritain (1882-1973) French philosopher etc.... . There are over 350 new cards on the Château de Versailles, including some 50 very large-format cards. There are other cards addressed to the painter Henri de Nolhac (1884-1948), son of Pierre de Nolhac. There is also a folder of old tourist brochures. CM