Alpes
Alpes names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Alpes HAUTES (hot-älp)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
HAUTES (hot-älp), a depart- department in the S. E. of France, adjoining the Italian frontier, formed almost entirely from the Dauphiné, but including a small part of the old Provence in the S.; divided into three arrondissements, Gap, Briançon, and Embrun; capital, Gap. In physical features it corresponds closely with Basses Alpes. In the N., on the borders of the department of Isère, the granite mass of Pelvoux rises to the height of 13,460 feet out of the limestone Alps. At its northern base runs the road from Grenoble by the Col du Lautaret (6,800 feet) to Briançon. The principal river is the Durance, which partly separates it from Basses Alpes, and, among its tributaries are the Buech, which flows from N. to S. in the W., and the Guil. The department is the poorest in France in natural resources. Its principal wealth consists of its mountain pastures, on which fine merino sheep are reared. Marble of all shades is abundant, and there is a considerable extent of anthracite near Briançon. Area, 2,178 square miles. Pop. about 110,000. ALPES-MARITIMES (älp mär-etem'), a department in the extreme S. E. of France formed mainly from the province of Nice, ceded by Italy in 1860, but containing also the arrondissement of Grasse, detached from Var; divided into three arrondissements, Nice, Grasse, and Puget-Théniers; capital, Nice. The physical features are similar to those of Basses and Hautes Alpes. The limestone region in the S. W. is specially remarkable for its magnificent scenery, its deep and dark defiles or clus, and its numerous swallow-holes, in which streams disappear to reappear in fine springs. The mildness of the climate has caused several places on the coast to become favorable health resorts, especially Cannes, Antibes, Nice, and Mentone. The department surrounds on the land side the principality of Monaco. Among the products are vines, mulberries, olives, oranges, and citrons. Flowers are cultivated on a large scale for the making of perfumes, which forms the principal industry of the department. Area, 1,443 square miles. Pop., about 375,000. ALPHA and OMEGA, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, sometimes used to signify the beginning and theend, or the first and the last of anything; also as a symbol of the Divine Being. They They were also formerly the symbol symbol of Christianity, and engraved accordingly on the tombs of the ancient Christians.
Alpes BASSES (bäs-älp)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BASSES (bäs-älp), a depart ment in the S. E. of France, one of the five formed out of the old Provence; divided into five arrondissements, Barcelonnette, Castellane, Digne, Forcalquier, and Sisteron; capital, Digne. It is a mountainous region, the E. portion belonging to the crystalline Alps, with summits rising to upward of 11,000 feet; the W. portion to the limestone Alps. This latter portion is one of the most arid and desolate in France. West of the Durance, the principal river of the department, a chain of the limestone Alps runs westward under the name of the Montagne de Lure. The Durance partly bounds the department of the N. Its principal tributaries, all on the left bank, are the Ubaye in the N., leading up to the Col d'Argentière, the Bléonne, the Asse, and the Verdon, which partly separates Basses Alpes from Var. None of these rivers is navigable. The principal wealth of the higher parts of the department consists in its mountain pastures, to which every spring large numbers of sheep from the lower Rhone are led. Cattle, horses, mules, and asses are also reared. Cereals are grown in many places, and in the southern districts olives and great quantities of almonds are produced, and the silkworm is reared. Area, 2,697 square miles. Pop., about 110,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Two of the three departments Collier's described in 1921 no longer carry those names: Basses-Alpes was renamed Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in 1970, largely because "low Alps" sounded unflattering to residents and tourists, and Alpes-Maritimes grew in 1947 when the Paris peace treaty transferred Tende and La Brigue from Italy to France. Collier's called Hautes-Alpes "the poorest in France in natural resources", living off mountain pasture and merino sheep; that department and its neighbour now depend heavily on skiing and summer tourism, with the Pelvoux massif (its Barre des Ecrins summit, given here as 13,460 feet, is 4,102 metres) enclosed since 1973 in the Ecrins National Park, and the Mercantour park following in 1979. The coastal resorts named as "favorable health resorts" - Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Mentone - became the mass-tourism Cote d'Azur instead, and Alpes-Maritimes has swollen from about 375,000 people to over a million. Grasse still makes perfume, but the flower fields have largely given way to imported and synthetic raw materials.
Written for this edition, 2026.