World – Double hemispheres – pictorial map – Air France

Boucher, Lucien (1889-1971) n.t. – Air France. Sur les alles d’Air France decouvrez le Monde a votre tour.

Perceval Paris 1952

chromolithographed map; overall 50 x 57 cm, image 35 x 56 cm. edges slightly frayed; some soft creases within image; 2 repaired marginal tears with paper archival tape; margins wide but discoloured, stained and dusty o/w vg cond.

A most decorative world map by Lucien Boucher for AirFrance. The two doubles hemispheres are kept in dark blue for the landmass and light blue for the sea. Each continent has its name in a small red cartouche printed in gold as are the longitudes, latitudes and the equator. The map is embellished with ships, sea monsters and even Neptune makes an appearance. The flight routes are printed in red and are shown departing from Paris across the world.

The area around the hemispheres is printed ina dark red and decorated with figures and historical scenes, representing the four continents. In between, depictions of indigenous animals and plants fill the space.

Air France is in a swag like title cartouche with Notre Dame right above it and Tower Bridge and the Acropolis on either side, representing the European Continent. Below is a small, round vignette of Europe, showing some of the flight routes, and another tile banner below.