Alexandre Dumas Takes His First Pleasure Trips - 1851- Signed Autograph Letter

Autograph letter signed by Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) to an administrator or the operations director of the Paris–Le Havre Railroad Company.

Paris, Wednesday, August 13, 1851. One page on a double sheet, trimmed margins. Dimensions: 13.5 × 14 cm / With included Plexiglas display frame: 21 × 15 cm.

A very charming piece of French railway history featuring the author of The Three Musketeers.

Pleasure trains were special rail services put into operation specifically for recreation, tourism, and the first popular Sunday getaways.

Inspired by the first British rail excursions launched as early as 1841 by Thomas Cook, the idea arrived in France in the mid-1840s. The Paris–Le Havre line that Dumas took was not only one of the first; it was the very line that introduced the concept to France in 1847. The trip took about six hours—three times faster than the mail coach—making it possible for the first time to make a round trip in two days. The round-trip ticket was sold at half price, giving rise to the popular expression in the press, “the sea for five francs.”

Dumas was, in fact, struggling financially during this period of his life. Ruined by the bankruptcy of his Théâtre-Historique and the liquidation of his Château de Monte-Cristo, he was hounded by more than a hundred creditors and lived under the imminent threat of imprisonment for debt; he would flee his creditors to Brussels at the end of 1851.

The phenomenon of pleasure trains exploded during the Second Empire, rapidly spreading to Dieppe, Trouville, Deauville, and the Forest of Fontainebleau, before laying the groundwork for the democratization of seaside vacations.

A very beautiful and generous signature.

"Sir,

I wish to take a pleasure train to Le Havre next Saturday.

Would you be so kind as to grant me three second-class seats—round trip.

With my warmest regards.

A. Dumas

7 avenue Frochot*

Wednesday, August 13, 1851"

* Alexandre Dumas lived there from April 1850 to December 1851, in an elegant townhouse with a garden enclosed by a gate. Avenue Frochot, now closed to the public but well known to residents of Pigalle and Rue Victor-Massé, was home to many artists and notable figures: Django Reinhardt, Victor Massé, Sylvie Vartan, Gustave Moreau, Jean Renoir, and Paul Meurice, who hosted Victor Hugo there upon his return from exile in 1870.