Keywords: Railway, Railroad, Steam Locomotive, Train, French Print, Hand Colored, Popular Print, Transportation, Industrial Revolution, 19th Century

Summary:
French hand-colored popular print titled Le Chemin de Fer (The Railroad), published by the Pellerin firm, Imprimeur-Libraire, Épinal, circa 1840. The large-format educational composition celebrates and explains the emerging age of railway transportation, depicting early steam locomotives, passenger carriages, railway infrastructure and crowds observing the new technology.

Extensive printed text beneath the image describes the history and operation of railways, including the development of iron rails and steam locomotives, passenger and freight cars, first- and second-class travel, carrying capacity, speed, fares, tunnels and the economic advantages of rail transportation. It compares railway development in England, Belgium, America, Russia and France.

Of particular historical interest, the text records France as having recently added the Paris–Saint-Germain railway as its seventh line, while identifying the Mulhouse–Thann and Strasbourg–Basel railways as under construction and major routes from Paris to Le Havre, Lille, Bordeaux, Marseille and Strasbourg as planned. The text therefore captures an early moment in the development of the French national railway system.

The lower right contains Les Agrémens des Chemins de Fer (The Pleasures of the Railways), a humorous song celebrating the novelty, speed and social experience of railway travel. Publisher’s imprint reads De la Fabrique de Pellerin, Imprimeur-Libraire, à Épinal. Later pencil notation in the lower margin reads ‘c. 1850.’

Measurement: 19 x 26 1/2 in. (48.3 x 67.3 cm.) approx

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