1930 TOURS IN FRANCE AMERICAN EXPRESS ILL BOOKLET GREAT CONDITION! LOVELY COVER!

Description

Up for sale is a lovely, and well-preserved, American Express illustrated booklet entitled
Tours in France,
published in June 1930 and including, as it reads inside, "attempts to tell you what France has to show, or at least to catalogue her attractions." There are also many pages of specific tours available from the American Express Travel Department, which started in 1915 and was flouring by the 1930s. A number of the itineraries include places associated with World War I, or "the Great War" as it was then called.
The double-stapled booklet, which measures 4-3/4 inches wide by 7-1/4 inches high, comprises 48 pages, eight of them with black-and-white photographs, 24 in all (one a full page, the others 3-4 to a page). There are two old ticket stubs laid inside the booklet, one dated July 1930 (see second photo uploaded).
The front cover has a lovely color image of what looks like Carcassone but is not identified anywhere inside (nor is its artist), while the back cover has a list of American Express offices in France and then the inside front cover has a long list with this printed at the top: "American Express Offices / where arrangements for visiting France can / be made, are established in the following places / in Europe and the Near East." The list starts with four addresses in London, and continues with offices in Liverpool, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh (two offices), Paris, Havre, Biarritz, Marseilles, Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Antwerp, Brussels, Lucerne, Zurich, Basle, Interlaken, Montreux, Geneva, Lugano, St. Moritz, Rome, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Taormina, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Munich, Oberammergau, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Vienna, Athens, Piraeus, Constantinople (Istanbul in parens), Cairo, Luxor, Assuan, and Jerusalem. At the very bottom the last two lines read:
X 635, June '30.     R.C. Seine 131579    Registre du Commerce Bruxelles 3479
Issued by the American Express Co. Imc. (incorporated with limited liability in U.S.A.)
The title page opposite, with a small illustrations, reads:
TOURS IN
FRANCE
Season
1930
AMERICAN EXPRESS
Copyright--All Rights Reserved.      Printed in England
Opposite a handsome photograph of The Chapel Sainte-Barbe, near Quimperle, is a Foreword on page 3, reading:
No country has more friends in the world of travel than "La Belle France." She makes foreigners welcome, imposing few restrictions on their comings and going, and she presents a cheerful people, an agreeable mode of life and a wonderful range of scenic and historical attractions.
France knows how to live and how to treat strangers. It is easy everywhere to fall in with things. In Paris as in Lyons or Marseilles you are able within an hour to sip your aperitif and be entertained by the passing show, observing newcomers with that typically French quality -- interest without curiosity.
This booklet attempts to tell you what France has to show, or at least to catalogue her attractions. Their number means brevity and little of the actual colour and charm. But Paris in a paragraph is sufficient for the ready imagination. Few words need be added to the volumes written about the graceful castles of Touraine. Praises sung to Normandy and Brittany can add nothing to their reputation among travellers the world over.
So we list the many beautiful and interesting things to be seen in the wide provinces of France and go on to ways and means of travelling. These are practical pages. American Express Travel Service smooths the path. Its tours are so thoughtfully planned that you begin to enjoy them before you leave!
Take any tour under the inclusive plan described in page 21 and illustrated by the suggestions in pages 23 to 29. Your approval of the itinerary means complete facilities arranged in advance -- no troublesome details to spoil your holiday.
See France this year under American Express arrangements! They are unobtrusive and inoffensive but very persistent and helpful when it comes to putting things right and seeing you through.
On pages 4 through 20, the headings and places covered under them are:
Northern France and the Battlefields (Malo-les-Bains, Calais, Boulogne, Lille, Le Touquet, Arras, Aiens, Beauvais, Laon)
Paris and Environs
E. France, Luxembourg & Alsace-Lorraine (Rheims, Vrdun, Bar le Duc, Sedan, Luxebourg, Metz, Nancy, Strasbourg, Mulhouse)
Normandy and Brittany (Dieppe, Rouen, Havre, Deauville-Trouville, Lisieux, Evreux, Caen, Cherbourg, St. Mao, Dinard, Mont St. Michel, St. Brieuc, Brest, Quimper, Vannes, Rennes)
Central France (Orleans, Blois, Angers, Tours, La Rochelle, Clermont Ferrand, Limoges, Nevers, Dijon, Vichy, Lyons)
The Cote Basque and the Pyrenees (Bordeaux, Biarritz, Bayonne, Pau, Lourdes, Toulouse, Carcassonne)
Southern France (Avignon, Arles, Nimes, Marseilles, "The Little Riviera," Hyeres, St. Raphael, Cannes, Grasse, Juan-les-Pins and Antibes, Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beaulieu, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Mentone)
The Alps, Savoy and the Jura (Briancon, Grenoble, Chambery, Aix-les-Bains, Annecy, Chamonix, Evian-les-Bains, Besancon)
Corsica (Ajaccio, Bastia, Bonifacio)
I'll include here the text for the "Northern France and the Battlefields" section on page 4, as it is very interesting:
From the Pas de Calais southward to Verdun and the Saar, Northern France to the traveller means two things -- the Great War and the Great Reconstruction. Everywhere are rebuilt towns and villages and everywhere are the square patches of white shining among the green and brown fields. It is a district of sorrow and beauty that has regained its peace and much of its wealth. It offers a quiet holiday for many seeking change, and is a place of pilgrimage for others who wish to see for themselves and remember.
The War Zone to-day gives but a faint idea of the tragedy which laid waste eight of the riches departments of France. There is desolation still in parts and the famous names will always have their memories, but otherwise present-day visitors find cultivated fields where trenches and barbed wire used to be, and new communities erected where nothing remained of the old but piles of broken stone.
The other side of the picture is formed by the gay resorts on the Channel Coast, from Dunkirk to Le Treport, which are the holiday ground for thousands of people from other countries. There is the incomparable Le Touquet, between Etaples and the sea, which is the golfing paradise of northern France; there is the popular Wimereux. Little resorts like Ambleteuse and Malo-les-Bains are coming into favour and prominence.
Starting on page 20 are the sections on general information on various kinds of yours, from independent travel to "autocar" services. Here's what's covered:
Inclusive Independent Travel (We arrange the Details / The Price will include... / A Settled Programme / Assistance en Route / Executing Your Wishes / Application for Estimate)
The photographs within, besides the aforementioned full-page image of The Chapel Sainte-Barbe, near Quimperle, show:
The terraced garden of St. Germain, near Paris.
The gardens of the palace at Versailles.
The main court at Fontainebleau.
The drawbridge of the chateau at Chenonceaux.
The chateau of Azay-le-Rideau.
The formal garden and chateau of Langeais.
Carcassonne; a mediaeval fortified city.
Carcassonne; the turrets and ramparts.
The Palace of the Popes, Avignon.
Mont Saint-Michel.
A vista at Quimper.
An old town gate at Dinan.
Paris: General view of the city.
Paris: The Tuileries gardens.
Paris: Tour Saint-Jacques.
Paris: The cathedral of Notre-Dame.
Detail of the doorway, Chartres Cathedral.
The spires of the cathedral of Rouen.
The cathedral at Orleans.
The cathedral of Amiens.
The Castle at Pau.
The Cascade of Gavarnie.
The ruins of St. Bertrand's cloister at Luchon.
The overall condition of this 48-page double-stapled publication is good to very good, considering its great age. There's slight foxing, spotting, chipping, smudging, etc., on the glossy wrapper & and the pages within, and the centerfold pages (24 and 25) are stuck together a bit (see the eighth photo uploaded) and I've not attempted to separate them, lest I cause any damage. There are no annotations, marginalia, underlining, scribbles, etc., nor any other major damage or flaws in the way of missing or clipped pages, tape repairs, large tears, water or other liquid damage, etc. The two silver-tone metal staples have rusted a but, causing minuscule bits of browning on some adjacent paper, likely the most at the centerfold (which is not visible because of their sticking together). Likely there's some minor age-toning / darkening / yellowing of the paper. The booklet has neither a musty odor but no smoky smell. Two old Paris receipts are laid in (as found), one of them dated July 1930.
This June 1930 illustrated brochure of travel excursions,
Tours of France,
from the American Express Travel Department, is being sold AS IS, as described above and pictured herein. I am setting what I believe is a reasonable starting price for the publication, and there is NO RESERVE. I am also including a Buy It Now price. which will of course disappear once a bid is received.
Note that I am selling another book,
Parisian Information,
which was sourced at the same book auction -- they both came in the same box lot of old paper and ephemera and had likely belonged to the same person, as they were in a plastic sleeve together -- soon. At first I was going to offer them as a single lot, but then I thought they deserved to be auctioned singly. Of course, it would be great if someone were to buy them both, but I thought someone might only want one of the two, so I decided it was best to sell them separately.
The cost of shipping and handling for publication: to U.S. addresses (via Media Mail), and  to Canada and  to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Japan, Australia, South America, and elsewhere in the world (the latter two via First Class International Mail aka Air Mail, which is the cheapest method).
I recently discovered that some
countries, like Australia and South Korea, are actually a bit more expensive to post packages to than Europe, but at this point in time I'll keep all the non-domestic and non-Canadian prices the same and swallow the difference myself, since so few outside the States buy my items -- though I'm always so pleased when they do!
If you want the publication sent more quickly to you (e.g., via Priority or Express Mail), you must request this asap after winning or purchasing it (or beforehand, if possible), and I will adjust the amount accordingly.
I will do my best to send the publication out to you no more than 2-3 business days following receipt of payment (that is, when PayPal informs me that your payment has been posted to or otherwise cleared in my account).
If you are the winner or buyer of this 1930 American Express booklet
Tours in France
, PAYMENT IS EXPECTED WITHIN TWO WEEKS (14 DAYS) FROM THE PURCHASE DATE. If you cannot pay within this time frame, please contact me asap so we can work something out. I'm very flexible and understanding, but I would appreciate communication from you one way or another.
PLEASE NOTE THAT RETURNS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED NOR REFUNDS MADE FOR THIS PUBLICATION, SO PLEASE READ MY DESCRIPTION CAREFULLY, LOOK CLOSELY AT THE PHOTOGRAPHS I’VE UPLOADED, AND ASK ME ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT THE CONTENTS OR CONDITION OF THE AMERICAN EXPRESS BOOKLET. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING!
Thanks for looking, and please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions about
Tours in France,
with its attractive color cover (signed "EIK" or "EJK" at the bottom, by the way, though there's no credit for the artist anywhere inside that I could find).
PLEASE NOTE THAT I WILL HAPPILY ADJUST SHIPPING CHARGES FOR MULTIPLE PURCHASES!!!
ALSO, PLEASE NOTE THAT, IF APPLICABLE, eBAY WILL ADD ANY APPROPRIATE STATE SALES TAX TO THE INVOICE.
7 Days Independent Tour to: Lille, Arras, Amiens and Paris (From London
₤14 -- and that's pretty much all-inclusive, with meals, accommodations, transfers, etc.)
10 Days Independent Tour to Paris and the Route des Vosges (From London,
₤19 18 6)
12 Days Independent Tour to Paris, Normandy and Brittany (illegible -- that's one of the pages that's stuck together!)
14 Days Independent Tour to Paris, Orleans, Blois, Tours, Angers and the Route de l'Ocean (From London,
₤25  1  9)
18 Days Independent Tour to Paris, Biarritz, Route des Pyrenees, Carcassonne and Avignon (From London,
₤35 7 6)
18 Days Independent Tour to Paris Avignon, Nice, Route des Alpes, Geneva & Route du Jura (From London,
₤37 3 9)
20 Days Independent Tour to Paris, Gorges of the Tarn, Limoges, Angouleme, Poitiers and Blois (From London,
₤35 13 9)
Travel by Private Automobile through France (A Car at Your Service / The Cost)
Local Sightseeing Tours (Seeing Paris, Short Tours from Paris, Shorts Tours from Biarritz, Seeing Marseilles, Short Tours from Marseilles, Short Tours from Cannes, Short Tours from Nice,
Tourist Autocar Services (The Route de Bretagne, The Chateau Country, The Route des Vosges, The Route de l'Ocean, Gorges of the Tarn Circuits, The Route des Pyrenees, The Route du Littoral, The Route des Alpes et du Jura; Autocar Services in Corsica)
General Arrangements (Travel Tickets, Hotel Reservations, Automobile Tours, Couriers, Sleeping Cars, Passports, Baggage and Customs)
Conditions of Booking (Liability, Banking and Shipping Services)