1651 - Posting A Letter In France.

I'm just reading one of my Dumas again and came across this sentence that takes place in 1651 on the Oise Region.

Pendant ce temps, Olivain avait bu sa bouteille et mangé son pâté; les chevaux aussi s'étaient rafraîchis. Raoul fit signe à l'hôte de venir, jeta un écu sur la table, remonta à cheval, et à Senlis, jeta la lettre à la poste. (In the meantime Olivain had finished his bottle and eaten his pie; the horses were also refreshed. Raoul motioned to the host to approach, threw a crown upon the table, mounted his horse, and posted his letter at Senlis.)

Has anyone any information how a letter was posted and delivered in France in the 1650s? Thanks in advance.

Hello Tony
I see you read french. I found this interesting about the history of postal service in France.

http://www.weblettres.net/blogs/art...r&e_id=32231

Also take a look at this. It's a movie about Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet who was a writer too working for Dumas but never got recognition. I rent it last week. Maybe you can find it in Ottawa.

http://www.lautredumas-lefilm.com/

In those days to make it short, letters were deliver by horse from one post office to the other and the cost of delivering, claim by the director of the p.o., had to be paid by the receiver.

Thanks very much for the link. Rather silly of me not to associate the post (of letters) with the post of horses, probably with the same stages and stations.

What threw me off, I guess, was Dumas using the expression "jeta la lettre à la poste" rather than "mit la lettre ..." "Jeta la lettre ..." (threw the letter in the mail) gave me the impression that the novelty of the service had already worn off; that it was already common occurrence which somehow I couldn't associate with 1651. Now I see, from your link, that indeed the service was already some 50 years old by 1651. Thanks again.

And since we all like images: