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RE: Verne's itineraries (Sweden?)

From: Garmt de Vries <G.deVries~at~phys.uu.nl>
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:45:02 +0200 (CEST)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003, Peter Harold wrote:

> According to a letter from Jules Verne to the swedish writer Fredrik
> Wetterlund, I think it could be written 1888 or something ("Uno Asplund,
> Jules Vernes underbara resor"), Verne stated that he visited Sweden in
> 1862(!), then sailing at the chanel Göta Kanal, from Stockholm to
> Gothenbourg, passing about 96 locks.
>
> The same summer, he continued his trip to Christiania, now Oslo, in
> Norway.

By a funny coincidence, I just started rereading Un Billet de Loterie this
morning. Here is an extract from chapter 2, where JV speaks about Telemark
and the Gota Kanal:

L'auteur a eu le plaisir de le visiter [le Telemark]. Il l'a parcouru en
kariol avec des chevaux pris aux relais de poste -- quand il s'en
trouvait. Il en a rapporte une impression de charme et de poesie, si
vivace encore dans son souvenir, qu'il voudrait pouvoir en impregner ce
simple recit.
A l'epoque ou se passe cette histoire -- en 1862 -- la Norvege n'etait pas
encore sillonnee par le chemin de fer qui permet actuellement d'aller de
Stockholm a Drontheim par Christiania. Maintenant un immense lien de rails
est tendu a travers ces deux pays scandinaves, peu enclins a vivre d'une
vie commune. Mais, enferme dans les wagons de ce chemin de fer, si le
voyageur va plus vite qu'en kariol, il ne voit plus rien de l'originalite
des routes d'autrefois. Il perd la traversee de la Suede meridionale par
le curieux canal de Gotha, dont les steam-boats, s'elevant d'ecluse en
ecluse, grimpent a trois cents pieds de hauteur. Enfin, il ne s'arrete ni
aux chutes de Trolletann, ni a Drammen, ni a Kongsberg, ni devant toutes
les merveilles du Telemark.

This is the only instance I can think of where the author speaks directly
about himself, and explains why he wrote the story (except prefaces etc.
of course).

This makes it very plausible that Verne visited the Vestfjorddal, where
most of the story takes place. I don't know if he also visited Bergen,
which is quite out of the way, but I'm convinced he went to Telemark after
travelling through the Gota Kanal. (BTW: for those interested, see
http://www.gotakanal.se/ for this marvellous piece of work.)

> To me, this raise me a question if the 1861 trip to Denmark/Norway
> really happend that year? Is there anything that prove this year for his
> travel, also leaving his pregnant vife home?

It seems natural to assume that, if the story takes place in 1862, Verne
himself visited Telemark in 1862.

And look what William Butcher says in his 'Chronolgy of Jules Verne'
(http://jv.gilead.org.il/butcher/chron.html):

1861 3 August: birth of only child, Michel.
1862 Goes to Norway and Denmark with Hignard.

Confusion...

> I think the un-published travelogy (is that the right name?) from this
> travel could be much help. Anyone that knows any information about this
> manuscript?

I think it's in the hands of a private collector, who is unwilling to
publish it :(

There's another possibility of confirming the year of Verne's visit. Look
at this curious quote from ch. 2:

On peut le voir, d'ailleurs, en feuilletant le livre aux feuilles
jaunatres sur lesquelles les voyageurs signent volontiers de leur nom
quelque compliment a l'adresse de dame Hansen. [...]
Il y a egalement quelques Francais, dont l'un, qu'il vaut mieux ne pas
nommer, s'est permis d'ecrire:
<<Nous n'avons qu'a nous louer de la reception qu'on nous a << fait >>
dans cette auberge! >>
Peu importe la faute grammaticale, apres tout! Si la phrase est plus
reconnaissante que francaise, elle n'en rend pas moins hommage a dame
Hansen et a sa fille, la charmante Hulda du Vestfjorddal.

Would this unnamed Frenchman be JV himself? In that case we only have to
trace the hostel that was the model for Mrs Hansen's hostel, and read the
guestbook for 1861 and 1862! Hmmm... easier said than done, I'm afraid...

Really, what we should do is check Verne's letters to his friends and
family, not only to see if he mentions his trip to Norway, but also to see
when he had time to make the trip.

Peter, could you give me the page in Asplund's book where the letter to
Wetterlund is mentioned?

Best regards,
Garmt.
Received on Tue 29 Jul 2003 - 10:47:38 IDT

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