1955 Koroleff Pictorial Tourist Map of Lebanon

This is a 1955 Paul Koroleff pictorial map of Lebanon. Pictorial vignettes highlight ancient ruins, daily life in Lebanon, idyllic scenery, and recreational activities. The map is bilingual, featuring content in Arabic and English, with a French title and zodiac calendar. Modern cruise liners and airplanes speed toward Beirut over the Mediterranean, while an ancient trireme plies the waters between Sidon and Tyr. A table situated in the lower right identifies tourist sites. At this point, before the 1975 - 1990 civil war, Lebanon was the jewel of the eastern Mediterranean. Beirut was a modern, culturally-rich city, and a regional center for finance and trade, with a reputation as the 'Paris of the Middle East'. Much of the infrastructure was destroyed during the Lebanese Civil War (1975 - 1990), and is only now being rebuilt.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Paul Koroleff and published by Paul Khalil Aouad in 1955. Three examples are cataloged in OCLC and are part of the institutional collections at Brigham Young University, the Université Laval, and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.