Northern France from Belgium and the English Channel to the Loire excluding Paris and its Environs; [with] Southern France and Corsica; Handbook for Travellers

Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, Publisher, 1914. Cloth. Fine. A complete two-volume set (each volume issued separately) of early editions for the traveler wanting a handy panoramic survey of the entire country, in matching bindings. Foolscap 8vo (158 x 99mm): xxxvi,454pp, with 16 maps and 55 plans (some folding); xxvi,648pp, with 42 maps, 63 plans, and a panorama. Publisher's red flexible cloth stamped in blind and gilt, all edges marbled, red and green silk page-makers. Northern: Fifth (and final) Edition. Southern: Sixth Revised Edition. Both volumes fine, all but unused (and scarce thus), bindings square and tight, richly marbled edges, pages and plans fresh and bright, maps properly folded and generally free of tears. A superb set. (Guide books were bought to be used, and as such their condition is rarely pristine.) Hinrichsen E119a and E126. "The Romantic movement in Germany had given a new impetus to travel . . . In 1828 Baedeker bought the rights to J. A. Klein's Rheinreise von Mainz bis Köln and, after the death of the author, Baedeker himself revised and updated the work, recreating it for a new market. Using his own travel experiences he guided the tourist to the principal attractions in each place, saving travellers the expense of hiring their own guide. He thus created a new type of guidebook, which was widely copied throughout Europe and opened up tourism to a new class of visitor. The reliability of the information was ensured by annual journeys by Baedeker himself and by reference to respected published sources and expert scholars. . . . For the serious tourist a Baedeker was indispensable, its tone, especially with respect to southern Europeans, assuring northerners of their superiority, and suggesting ways of avoiding dangers. When Lucy Honeychurch finds herself ‘In Santa Croce with no Baedeker' in E. M. Forster's A Room with a View (1908), she is entirely lost." (ODNB) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).