The Geographie Universelle ... but which Geographie Universelle

Abstract

The Geographie Universelle of the Vidalians holds pride of place in the history ot French geographical scholarship between the tvvo world wars. However, other Geographies Universelles were compiled during that peiiod and now seem lo be largelv forgotten. The most significant of ihese was published by Quillel in the 1920s. Using a variety of sources., including documents in the Collection Perpillou-Demangeon (in the Bibliotheque Mazarine), this article examines the team of authors established by Vidal de La Blache and whose wriling was seen through to completion by Lucien Gallois. Attention is focused on the priortraining of these geographers. and their degree of field knowledge of the regions about which they wrote. A similar exercise, undertaken for the network of a dozen authors who contributed to the 4-volume Quillet project, reveals a varied team, comprising some authors who held doctorates and taught in institutions of higher education, and others whose careers were in secondary education. This essay casts light on a forgotten section ot the geographical community whose significance resided in informing school pupils, businessmen and members of the general public who would have found Vidal's great projecl too detailed and erudile. Il also identifies the role of publishers in shaping and diffusing geographical knowledge.

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