1955 Lancaster Pictorial View of the French Riviera

A c. 1955 English-language pictorial view of the French Riviera or Côte d'Azur in southern France, drawn by E. Lancaster and published by the French Ministere des Travaux Publics, des Transports et du Tourisme. It displays the region in the early phase of a post-World War II revival when it became an international destination for the rich and famous.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the northwest and taking some liberties with geography to provide a horizontal display of the coastline, this view covers the French Riviera or Côte d'Azur (France's Mediterranean coast) from roughly Fréjus, Saint-Raphaël, and Saint-Tropez to Menton, near the Italian border, including Nice, Monaco, and Cannes. Aside from towns and cities, hills and mountains are illustrated in the background, with mountain elevations noted. Roads and rivers are also traced. An elaborate border surrounds the view, along with text and photographs of Nice, Cannes, and Menton. At the bottom is a schematic of coastal roads between Saint-Raphaël and Menton, with distances indicated. On the verso are additional blocks of promotional text, photographs, and road schematics, including those tracing the connections from the Riviera to the Alps. It is noteworthy that this brochure is in English, as the area was popular with British and American tourists in the Interwar Period, and again in the post-World War II era, when major international events like the Monaco Grand Prix and Cannes Film Festival (discussed below), in addition to the stunning natural beauty of the region, attracted wealthy and famous visitors from across the world.

The Cannes Film Festival

This view was produced as the French Riviera sought to recover from losses suffered during the Second World War (the area was under Italian occupation from 1940 until 1943, and then German occupation following the collapse of Mussolini's government). The first film festival at Cannes was held in 1939 in protest to the meddling of the fascist German and Italian governments in the only extant international film festival, then held in Venice. The first Cannes film festival held an opening night gala on August 31, 1939, the day before Nazi troops invaded Poland. The rest of the festival was postponed and then canceled, and the next film festival at Cannes was not held until 1946, after the war.

Publication History and Census

This view was published by the Commissariat générale au tourisme of the French Ministere des Travaux Publics, des Transports et du Tourisme. It is undated, but from content and style can be tentatively dated to the mid-1950s (when the publishing government agency held this name). The view is not signed, but the cover art on the verso is signed 'E. Lancaster.' There appear to be two printings of the view, which are otherwise identical, one by E. Desfosses Neogravure of Paris and the present printing by the Imprimerie Sapho, also in Paris. Regardless of printing, the OCLC notes examples at the University of California Santa Barbara, California State University Northridge, the University of Kansas, and the Library of Congress.