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Re: Joyous Miseries (+ LtdM)

From: Per Johan Moe <per.johan~at~moe-vi.no>
Date: Fri, 06 May 2011 15:00:57 +0200
To: jvf~at~gilead.org.il, wbutcher~at~netvigator.com

Dear Bill
This is excellent work.
- the critical material is truly interesting to read.
And thank you for the kind references to my work.
.
Indeed the pictures from the travel magazine; Le Tour du Monde (1860) clearly appealed to Verne´s "visual nature of imagination” as you put it. I find illustrations no.10 and no.11 particularly interesting in that context.
Picture no.11 - showing log-cabins at the Bamble hamlet in the Heddal valley, was a place Verne himself visited on his Telemark journey, and it was 25 years later written into the novel Lottery Ticket as the home of Siegfrid Helmboe, Juhel´s fiancé.
Picture no.10, inside the Bolkesjö-Inn, is also mentioned in the novel, as an important stopping place for every traveller of the period (P.Riant, J.Leclercq etc.)
However, Verne´s diary indicate that he did not select this route for himself on his way to the Rjukan falls in 1861. [I do know most articles on the subject to date states the opposite, though]
.
.
Some xtra info that might interest the Forum
I will suggest for the readers of the Forum to have a closer look at the LTdM-pictures that Bill presents here, accompanying his new translation:
We know that Verne indicated for his publisher & illustrators that visual background material for the novel LT could be found in this LTdM article.
Traces of this is evident if we study the picture (from LT ) of Hulda at Madam Hansen´s inn at Dal (Rjukan, Telemark)  - and compare to Bills ill.no.10.
[look closely at the furniture/shelf in the background, jugs, jars, candlestick + legs of table]
(link to pics: http://wp.me/Pad3Q-RN) ]
.
As we are in the 'anniversary-year' for the Verne´s Scandinavian voyage, I would like also to add some extra information connected to this image because, Lancelot´s LTdM-drawing from inside the Bolkesjö Inn (pic.no.10), holds more 'secrets' still:
Have a look at the man with the strikingly long hair. For a long time I did not pay much attention to the features of this person
- until last summer when I visited this very inn, (these old log buildings from 1776 still stands)
The current owner, Mrs. Bolkesjö, great great grand daughter of the very same innkeper that greeted LTdM-writer Paul Riant back in 1858, welcomed me.
During this visit to the Bolkesjö area and the Jondalen valley close by, I was presented with a booklet containing a portrait from 1844 of the very same innkeeper, drawn by the famous Norwegian painter Adolf Tidemand. (Tidemand (ref. Verne/Salon 1857) - was later credited as artistic source, under an other LTdM-drawing made by Pelcoq).

This drawing by A.Tidemand (see scan through the below link) had a striking resemblance with the Lancelot xylographic engraving, because of the 'hairstyle'
- I find it very likely that those two images depict the very same person.
.
Mr. Gullik Olsson Bolkesjö, the original owner of the inn, was a member of the N. parliament, 'The Storting' - and was known to sit down to chat with his visitors. Most likely, writer Paul Riant of LTdM made a sketch of him and handed it over to artist Lancelot to make a proper picture.
The interior reappeared in Vernes novel through G. Roux´s drawing, but the innkeeper did not
- he was exchanged by a proprietor of the opposite sex: Madame Hansen - probably inspired by Verne´s own stay at the Kongsberg guesthouse bearing her name.
Adolf Tidemands drawing of the male innkeeper at Bolkesjø ended up in the vaults of the Norwegian National Gallery.
[for easy access, the images discussed can be seen here:  http://wp.me/Pad3Q-RN]
.
- best regards Per Johan
at the Oslofjord, Norway
www.jules-verne.no/english
celebrating the 150 yrs:
1861 - 2011

----- Original Message -----
From: "wbutcher" <wbutcher~at~netvigator.com>
To: "'Jules Verne Forum'" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Sent: Wed, 4 May 2011 22:06:17 +0800
Subject: Joyous Miseries

Dear All,

 

 

I am pleased to announce that I’ve published my translation, with critical apparatus, of Joyous Miseries of Three Travellers in Scandinavia on http://www.ibiblio.org/julesverne/JoyousMiseriescompact.pdf. A revised edition, incorporating constructive comments and suggestions, will be available shortly.

 

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

 

http://www.ibiblio.org/julesverne/

 

1A, Kai Kuk Shue Ha, Luk Keng, North District, NT, HONG KONG

 

 

Received on Fri 06 May 2011 - 16:01:08 IDT

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