Plan d’Alger.

Description

Rare and beautiful map of the port of Algiers, published in the same city in 1931 by P. & G. Soubiron Éditeurs. It covers an area from the Hussein Dey and El Annasser (Ruisseau) districts in the south to Bab El Oued and Bologhine (Saint-Eugène) in the north, passing through the Plateau Saulière and the Casbah.

The map captures Algiers at the height of French colonial rule, marking its centennial as the capital of French Algeria. Then a bustling Mediterranean port city of over 200,000 inhabitants, Algiers was the administrative, military, and commercial hub of the colony. The map reflects the stark duality of the colonial urban landscape: the European quarter, with its wide boulevards, civic buildings, and port infrastructure, contrasts sharply with the dense, labyrinthine Casbah, home to much of the indigenous Muslim population.

That year, French authorities commemorated 100 years of occupation with grand exhibitions and celebratory propaganda, framing the city as a model of colonial modernity. Yet beneath the surface, growing economic hardship from the global Depression and increasing political unrest among Algeria’s Arab and Berber communities signaled the early rumblings of anti-colonial nationalism. Reformist movements, including the newly founded Association of Algerian Muslim Ulama, began advocating for cultural and political rights, even as the colonial administration sought to tighten its grip on the region.

The map thus documents a city poised between imperial celebration and mounting social tension—offering a compelling visual record of colonial Algiers on the eve of a transformative era.

Census and publication information

The map we offer was part of a small guide to the city, now lost. It was published shortly after the Centenary of French Algeria (1830-1930), marked by a series of ceremonies, festivities, parades, colloquia, and congresses organized in both Paris and Algeria. This event aimed, among other things, to develop tourism in what was then a French department.

Very rare map on the market; only one copy listed in WorldCat/OCLC (BNF, Paris).