Personal note to luxe travel

When going abroad, have at hand two limited-edition travel guides: Louis Vuitton Travel Books and a "personal" guide with hand-drawn maps and phone numbers of writers

You won't find tips here on which restaurant in Paris serves the best escargots or the three little-known pubs that you simply must visit when in London. Instead, the Louis Vuitton Travel Books, published this month, will take you on a different journey. There are four books in the collection - on London, Paris, New York and Easter Island - with one artist depicting each city. Brought out as a limited edition of 50 and priced at £38 each (roughly Rs 3,200), they are not your conventional travel guides, rather they are luxury coffee-table books filled with sketches.

The artists, none of them native to the city they sketched, bring to each guide their individual sensibility, making each book distinctive. So if American artist Daniel Arsham brings a surreal feel to his work on Easter Island, depicted in muted, monochromatic tones and broad brush-strokes, Parisian Jean-Philippe Delhomme's view of New York is more colourful, and resembles light-hearted water-colours. London is portrayed by Japenese artist Natsko Seki's trademark black-and-white sketches with splashes of colour, a mix of hand-drawn illustrations, photographs and computer-aided tools. Congo-born, Kinshasa-based Cheri Samba was chosen for the Paris book, which is reminiscent of a graphic novel. Samba has painted himself into the book, someone who arrives in the city for the first time. Some visuals are accompanied with witty commentary, such as when he stands in front of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and wonders if they indeed are guaranteed to all, adding "Luckily, I have friends in high places... thank you, Louis Vuitton." The books show the artists' depiction of popular landmarks in each city and what different areas are known for - such as sketches of people window-shopping at Mayfair in London, and sections dedicated to Central Park and Hyde Park. The books, says the company, are the first in what is proposed to be an annual series, and would make an interesting addition to the luxury traveller's book-shelf.

Perhaps even more unusual is another limited edition, titled For You The Traveller. Huffington Post wondered whether it's the best guide book ever made - it certainly would be the most unique one you've come across. Conceptualised by Iranian-New Zealander artist Nabil Sabio Azadi, the book has been written by 27 local residents across five continents who will, if you so wish, act as your guide to their city, town or village - just call their number, which they have given in the book. " These people are scattered across five continents from Argentina to Norway to Kenya and beyond... they are metalworkers, scientists, builders, farmers, musicians, leatherworkers, political analysts and many other things. What they have in common is that they trust you. If you share yourself with them, they will share their shelter, philosophy, and land with you," says the 21-year-old artist, in an email interview.

Published in a limited edition of 200, the books have hand-drawn maps and are printed on recycled paper and covered in salvaged rabbit fur. "With my art, I see it as my purpose to try to give people a chance to experience communitas and the feeling of solidarity. One of solidarity's most essential forms is companionship and so For You The Traveller is actually the most straightforward expression of the sentiment I have when I work," says Azadi. Finding the people, he says, was not difficult since he just had to tap into the "cameo appearances and short exchanges" that punctuated his five years of globe-trotting. "Accompanying each person's telephone number is a lesson from their life." It is priced at a steep euro 155 (roughly Rs 11,000) but profits will go to non-profit Nouvelle Planete to fund the construction of five foot bridges in villages in Madagascar.