TL;DR — This is an original dinner menu from Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, March 28, 1907, preserved in the Buttolph Collection at The New York Public Library. The cover combines a black-and-white engraving of the cathedral with an Art Nouveau frame in turquoise and gold. Restored and reformatted at 300 DPI, it prints as archival wall art in three sizes.
By The Menu Press · Published November 2026
What you are looking at
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, March 28, 1907. The cathedral at Reims, in northeastern France, was the historic coronation site of French kings. By 1907 it was already on every Grand Tour itinerary. (The cathedral would suffer severe bombardment in World War I, making pre-war images of its intact gothic façade historically poignant.)
Context: the company and the year
CGT’s menu programme in the 1907–1914 period was unusual among ocean lines: rather than ship portraits, the company commissioned a series of menu covers featuring famous French sites — cathedrals, châteaux, regional landscapes. Each menu thus doubled as a small piece of French cultural propaganda for an American clientele.
A closer look at the artwork
The cover combines a black-and-white engraving of the cathedral with an Art Nouveau frame in turquoise and gold. The lower text references the perfume “La Corrida” by Ed.
Pinaud, the Paris commercial printer who held the CGT menu contract for over a decade. The frame’s decorative motifs — stylised water lilies and abstract scrolls — are pure French Art Nouveau of the 1900–1910 period.
Living with this print
The soft, illustrative cover sits well in warmer rooms. Cream or linen matting flatters the period paper tone; a slim dark-wood or antique-brass frame keeps the focus on the artwork. The 11×14 and 16×20 sizes both work framed and matted.
A simple frame and a generous mat let the original printing — the ink, the paper tone, the period typography — carry the room. Hung as a pair or in a chronological sweep with other cards from the same line, a single menu becomes a small history of dining at sea.
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique · Cathédrale de Reims · 1907 is available as an instant download in three print sizes (8×10, 11×14, 16×20) at 300 DPI, each in a pure and a museum-labelled version. View the full print →
Frequently asked questions
Is this an original historic menu or a modern reproduction?
It is an original historic menu — a single card from Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, March 28, 1907, held in the Buttolph Collection at The New York Public Library and digitised at high resolution. We restore and reformat the scan for modern printing; the underlying artwork is the period original.
What print size works best?
The 16×20 inch print is the boldest single-wall choice and reads from across a room. The 11×14 suits a grouping of several menus; the 8×10 fits a shelf or a tight space. All three ship at 300 DPI.
What was Compagnie Générale Transatlantique?
CGT’s menu programme in the 1907–1914 period was unusual among ocean lines: rather than ship portraits, the company commissioned a series of menu covers featuring famous French sites — cathedrals, châteaux, regional landscapes. Each menu thus doubled as a small piece of French cultural propaganda for an American clientele.
Further reading
- The Golden Age of Ocean Liner Dining, 1880-1930
- The Buttolph Collection: A Curator’s Guide
- See the print: Compagnie Générale Transatlantique · Cathédrale de Reims · 1907
The Menu Press curates, digitally restores, and reformats public-domain menus from the Buttolph Collection of Menus, The New York Public Library, for archival-quality printing as wall art. Browse the archive · Read our story.