About This Issue
Tout l’Univers N°173 combines natural history, aviation, ancient architecture, and earth science in a richly illustrated weekly magazine. Published by Hachette, this French-language issue dates from the week of 10–17 February 1965.
The cover features a turquoise-blue bird perched beside a hollow in a deeply textured tree trunk. Pale blue sky, brown bark, and a yellow border create a striking colour contrast. A red butterfly adds another bright accent near the lower corner.
Botanical Illustrations
The back cover presents “On reconnaît l’arbre à sa feuille,” a botanical identification chart arranged in thirty illustrated panels. Individually labelled examples include maple, birch, oak, fig, beech, ash, walnut, olive, willow, and vine.
The illustrations compare leaf shapes, needles, and branching forms within a clear rectangular grid. This botanical page remains part of the magazine, rather than a separately supplied print. Its orderly layout offers an appealing contrast with the detailed bird painting on the front.
Aviation, History and Science
“Le Vol à Voile” explores gliding through illustrations, explanatory text, and a map of French gliding centres. A red-and-white sailplane flies above a patchwork landscape of green fields and scattered buildings. Smaller illustrations accompany discussions of motorless flight and pilot training.
“Les Monuments de l’Antique Rome” includes a colour reconstruction of the Roman Forum. Temples, columns, steps, and small figures convey the scale and activity of the ancient city. A neighbouring feature discusses Turenne, with a portrait and mounted military figures.
“Les Tremblements de Terre” introduces earthquake science through world maps, an Earth cross-section, diagrams, and an illustrated seismograph. These pages reflect the magazine’s educational approach during the 1960s.
Trees and Seasonal Change
A “Sylviculture” spread follows a tree through winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Further diagrams explore roots and woodland zones at different elevations. The accompanying “Informations” page mixes animal photographs with cultural news.
Condition
Very good overall, with vivid colour illustrations and generally clean-looking photographed pages. Light edge and spine wear, small handling creases, and gentle page waviness are visible. Minor corner wear and age-related toning are also present.
The issue is reported complete at 20 pages. The photographs show selected spreads, rather than a page-by-page collation. Please examine the images for the condition of this individual copy.
Key Details
Publication: Tout l’Univers
Publisher: Hachette, Paris
Issue: N°173
Date: Week of 10–17 February 1965
Language: French
Material: Printed paper
Dimensions: Approximately 25 × 31 cm
Page count: 20 pages, reported complete
Back cover: Thirty-panel botanical identification chart
Subjects: Trees, birds, gliding, ancient Rome, earthquakes, Turenne
SKU: 2C147
Why It’s Special
The bird cover and botanical chart give this issue a distinctive natural-history focus. Its aviation and architectural illustrations add further interest for collectors of vintage French educational publishing.
