Paris

Paris (1961)
Publisher: Flammarion • Printer: Draeger Frères, Montrouge
ISBN: none (Paris doesn’t queue)
Condition: Good (boulevard-tested, café-proof)
Imprint: Crappy Old Books

Behold a mid-century publisher’s picture-book that does exactly what it says on the tin: PARIS, as issued by Flammarion and printed—immaculately, of course—by the legendary Draeger Frères on 31 March 1961 at Montrouge (we have the colophon to prove it). This is the sort of album that used to live on smart sideboards and settle arguments about bridges. It’s all Seine and certainty, with the quiet authority of photogravure and captions that behave.

Inside you get a guided drift down the river and across the centuries:

• LA SEINE from the arch of Pont Saint-Michel (spray optional).

• The tip of the Vert-Galant, where Parisians practise being more Parisian.

• A plan of Lutetia before the Romans brought roads and opinions.

• A generous spread of boulevards, monuments, quays and corners that look exactly like postcards wish they did.
  A number of plates are credited to Renaud-Lemarinier, a name that sounds like a poet and shoots like a cartographer—clean lines, good light, zero fuss.

Condition “Good” in Crappy Old Books parlance means honest, well-kept city miles. The jacket shows civilised edge-rub and a veteran protective film that has done more for preservation than most museums; boards square; binding steady; pages clean and pleasantly toned with the lightest touch of foxing (call it café crème rather than cellar). No spilled Bordeaux, no savage dog-ears, only the patina of having been opened often enough to say “look, that’s where we turned left.”

This is a house production, not a single-author opus—Flammarion assembled the pictures, Draeger printed them gloriously, and Paris did the rest. The text keeps a respectful distance while the imagery does all the flirtation. Think of it as a 1961 time capsule: the city halfway between post-war grit and New Wave gloss, before everything was filtered and after everyone learned where the light is best.

Use cases (field-tested):

• Deploy on the coffee table to raise the room’s IQ and property values.

• Plan an imaginary stroll: Île de la Cité at noon, Arc de Triomphe by tea, Pont Neuf at the blue hour.

• Mine for palette ideas (zinc roof grey, river silver, bakery cream) or for captions that make you sound local.

• Cite the Draeger Frères credit at parties and watch collectors nod like metronomes.

Talking points for the incurably enthusiastic:

• “Printed by maîtres-imprimeurs—they don’t use that phrase lightly.”

• “1961 Paris: before Instagram, after reason.”

• “Renaud-Lemarinier’s camera understands the Seine better than most boats.”

Physical particulars, frankly declared: jacket rubbed with a few small nicks beneath that vintage wrap; boards true; binding sound; plates crisp; captions legible; colophon present and correct—“Achevé d’imprimer le 31 mars 1961… Draeger Frères, Montrouge.” Aroma: bookshop with a memory of Gauloises (purely psychological).

Ideal for: flâneurs without visas, decorators with restraint, nostalgists with standards, and anyone who believes a city can be both map and romance.

Crappy Old Books guarantee: we don’t sell mint; we sell experience. If you want Paris the way 1961 saw it—unhurried, well printed, and certain of itself—this is your river ticket.

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