The New York Times/1904/10/1/English Translations of Sue
New York Times Book Review:
In a letter to The Book Review of Aug. 6 Mr. Peter Cadley, objecting to the incompleteness of the translation of Eugene Sue's "Les Mysteres du Peuple" published by the New York Labor News Company, advised those who desired to become more acquainted with the work to read the translation published by Trübner & Co. of London in 1863.
Trübner & Co., with David Nutt, did in 1863, publish a translation by K.R.H.M of "Les Mysteres du Peuple," entitled "The Rival Races; or, The Sons of Joel," but this, I am informed by publishers, has long been out of print.
Moreover, it was by no means complete. I quote here from the translator's preface: "Many parts of the work had also to be modified in tone, the license of French imagination overstepping the confines of English taste. The portion referring to the events which terminated at the beginning of the Christian era was held to be especially objectionable; and the translator takes this opportunity of assuring the curious reader that nothing is lost by the omission, as, in every sense, that section of the novel is the weakest, least effectual, and worst written." So that, with the exception of a meagre epitome of some dozen or so lines conclusion, none of "The Silver Cross" appears.
The edition is in three volumes and contains ten of the eighteen stories, beginning with "The Dragoon's Helmet" and ending with "The Pilgrim's Shell." It is professedly an abridgment.
- FRANK S. BUDGEN.
- Hampstead Heath, London, N.W., Sept. 20, 1904
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