Afrique du Nord Touristique

L’Illustration — Paris, 1939

Original vintage color-printed tourist map of North Africa, combining a regional map of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia with detailed inset maps of selected travel destinations.

The main map identifies roads, railways, towns, mountain regions, desert routes, and numerous places of interest. Red symbols and lettering highlight visitor facilities and attractions against shaded terrain, blue seas, and yellow desert areas.

The legend distinguishes features including tourist information offices, thermal stations, seasonal resorts, Arab & Berber monuments, Roman ruins, caves, forests, and winter-sports destinations. This range presents North Africa as a region of archaeological, architectural, mountain, coastal, and desert travel.

Six detailed Inset maps show the environs of Marrakech, the Hoggar, the Algiers–Djurjura–Kabylie region, the Aurès, and the environs of Tunis. A smaller locator map places the region within its wider geographical setting.

Published in 1939, the sheet records tourism immediately before the Second World War transformed Mediterranean travel. It reflects the development of motoring routes, railway connections, resort infrastructure, and organized excursions during the interwar years.

Its historical interest also lies in the selection of attractions. Ancient sites and Islamic architecture appear alongside mountain scenery, oasis travel, and European-style seasonal resorts. The map documents how the region was presented to French-speaking travelers within the colonial setting of the period.

The Saharan routes and Hoggar inset are particularly engaging, extending the tourist geography far beyond the Mediterranean coast. Meanwhile, the Marrakech and Tunis-area maps provide closer detail for established cultural destinations.

The main map has a stated scale of 1:4,500,000, with separate inset scales. Published in Paris by L’Illustration.

An original travel-history map with appeal for collectors of North Africa, interwar motoring, tourism, archaeology, and Saharan exploration.

Condition: overall clean and fresh in appearance, light normal age toning. Colors and printed detail remain clear. Please examine the photograph for the condition of this individual sheet.

Sheet measures c. 15 3/4” x 23 1/2”.

printed map area c. 12 5/8” x 20 1/2”.

original centerfold.

R36932