Collectif - Livre de poste - 1847

1 volume in half morocco, lx, 425 pages - light external wear, interior fresh - pleasant copy.
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Post Book for the Year 1847 is an official administrative work published in Paris by the Royal Printing Office (or National, depending on the catalogues) in 1847. It constituted the reference guide of the horse-post service under the July Monarchy.

Contents of the work

The book mainly contains:

the designation of all the royal post relay stations;
the distances between the relay stations, expressed in myriameters and in kilometres;
the indication of relay stations located on foreign roads starting from the French borders;
the table of service of the Mediterranean steamship line.

It is therefore a true technical directory intended for postmasters, travelers, administrations, and transport companies of the time. Before the full development of the railway, these relay stations constituted the essential infrastructure for rapid travel across France.

Bibliographic Description

The 1847 edition is generally described as:

format in-12 or in-8 depending on the bound copies;
about LX + 426 pages;
two fold-out colored maps:
a general map of France;
a map of the environs of Paris;
sometimes bound with the arms or royal cipher of Louis-Philippe.

Historical Significance

This work is a valuable source for:
the history of transport before the triumph of rail;
study of the French road network under the July Monarchy;
the administrative geography of mid-19th-century France;
military and civilian logistics of travel under Louis-Philippe.