16.00 USD
The Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans was an early French railway line that ran between the cities of Paris and Orleans. It operated, prior to later mergers, between 1840 and 1934.
In our younger days, traveling around and stopping sometimes in small town motels, there were often racks of assorted postcards for sale in the motel office, so we could regale friends and family, via the mail, with our adventures in say, Elko, Nevada, or King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and include a souvenir! The cards might offer an image of the town's main street or a major attraction (I remember a postcard from the Commercial Hotel in Elko that bore an image of the giant stuffed polar bear housed in the hotel's cafe. In me, as a young boy, that bear inspired awe!
This card was one probably sold to travelers along the Paris-Orleans line and is a wonderful example of a lithographed postcard of the kind French collectors refer to as a "précurseur" because of its undivided back. Before French postcards began being printed with a vertical line on the backside dividing the message portion from the address (circa 1904), the backsides of cards were limited to an address only. Any messages from the sender were to be written on the front, or image, side. So here we have a gorgeous lithograph picturing Rocamadour, a medieval pilgrimage stop in the Dordogne valley, taking up only a portion of the image side, leaving plenty of room for a written message!
A beautiful card in beautiful condition. Please examine our high res scans for detail.
The item you are considering for purchase is, unless otherwise noted, a vintage postcard of approximately 5 and 1/2, by 3 and 1/2 inches. Postage is for fully-insured, first class shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will not charge for postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more. We do not charge for shipping materials, and as of the date of this listing are still charging below our overall cost on shipping.