BarbaraJean's blurb on Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm | Kate Wiggin

A #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead reminder for the next couple weeks! We have two upcoming #LMMAdjacent discussions:
Saturday, June 1: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin (Chapters 16-end)
Saturday, June 8: Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué

My library doesn‘t have any print copies of Undine, but I‘ve found a bunch of digital versions on Libby and Hoopla. It‘s in the public domain, so it‘s also available via Project Gutenberg, etc.

rubyslippersreads, Daisey, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

TheAromaofBooks Yay!! I have no idea what to expect from this one! 10mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Me neither! I actually checked out two digital versions from the library last night! The one I got via Libby is from Project Gutenberg and is from a series called “Told to the Children.“ I'm skeptical because the text looks very different from the one I got on Hoopla. And it SAYS it has illustrations, but each link in the “List of Pictures“ goes to a point in the text where there should be an illustration—but there isn't. 🙄 ⬇ 10mo

BarbaraJean The one I got on Hoopla looks more promising, and it has a couple of introductory essays (one by George MacDonald). Trying to decide whether to read those before or after the story. I hate it when intros have spoilers, and they so often do with older books! 10mo

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julieclair Everand had an ebook version with the Arthur Rackham illustrations. I‘ll be reading that! 😀 10mo

TheAromaofBooks @BarbarJean @julieclair - Many of these public domain books are being printed by Amazon publishers (or whatever you want to call them lol) in inexpensive paperback copies, so that's what I got. I think part of the difference in editions may also be different translators? I believe this was actually originally written in German. Mine is translated by Fanny Elizabeth Bunnett. With a name like Fanny, I'm assuming it's an old translation 😂 10mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Of course different translations! 🤦🏻‍♀️ I wonder which one LMM would have read… 10mo

TheAromaofBooks I'm not completely sure how public domain works with translated books. Is it the original German text that is in the public domain and anyone can translate it? Or it is some of the early English translations that are now in the public domain? After nosing about a little I did find this list - https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Undine - which shows the years and translators, but I can't imagine these are the only ones. However, that means my edition ⬇ (edited) 10mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) translated by Bunnett is 1867. From what I've read, the illustrated version by Courtney, published in 1909, is the most popular. While trying to find out more about your “Told to the Children“ edition, I ended up on this GR page - read the “about the author“ section - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15981399-stories-from-the-ballads-told-to-th... - she co-wrote a book with LMM! Her name did start to ring a bell in that ⬇ 10mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) context. Side note - scanning through the books she wrote there's one called “Dante for the Children“ 😂 😂 😂 I may have to get a copy of that!!! All that to say, it looks like there are several options for which translation LMM would have read. (I don't think she knew German, did she? There's always the outside chance she read it in the original language!), but probably NOT the Courtney or MacGregor versions - at least not at first - ⬇ 10mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) since those weren't published until the 1900s. Who translated your Hoopla edition, does it say? Looking back at the Amazon description of the edition I bought, the description says “An unabridged English translation of the story by William Leonard Courtney and illustrated by Arthur Rackham was published in 1909.“ But if you look the edition you're purchasing is translated by Bunnett. So that's not confusing😆 But there are a lot of ⬇ 10mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) editions available with Rackham's illustrations - I think those are what made that edition so popular. Apparently, they're kind of creepy haha One last note, what was really crazy to me reading this was the statement that THIS story came BEFORE Hans Christian Anderson wrote The Little Mermaid! He claims it as one of his influences for that story. Kind of wild. Anyway, I've rambled enough. It's just so interesting!!! 😂 10mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks With public domain, I think it‘s the translation itself that enters public domain once the translation‘s copyright date hits that threshold. It makes sense that the translation that appeared with the famous illustrations is the most popular! I‘d love to find a copy that mirrors that one, although that's not the one LMM read (at least not originally), since she first mentions Undine in her journals in 1889 (Oct. 24). I wonder if ⬇ 10mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) LMM read the Bunnett translation you have—it would have been the most recently published! But it really could have been ANY of those other than the Courtney. That Wikisource list is really helpful—I hadn‘t found a list of English translations yet! However, it doesn‘t clear up who translated either of the versions I have. 😂 Neither one has a publication date or any info about the translator. I figured both used one of the ⬇ 10mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) anonymous translations and started trying to match up the text using the Wikisource list. The Hoopla version seems to be the 1845 anonymous translation. But the “Told to the Children” one reads like a simplified version, so it looks like Mary Macgregor adapted an anonymous translation for kids. She‘s listed as the “Editor” on the copyright page of this version, and she‘s not listed as a translator of any of the versions on Wikisource. ⬇ 10mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) The differences between hers and the other texts are not translation-type differences! Here are the opening sentences of the two I have:
Hoopla (pub by Read & Co.): “On a beautiful evening, many hundred years ago, a worthy old fisherman sat mending his nets. The spot where he dwelt was exceedingly picturesque. The green turf on which he had built his cottage ran far out into a great lake; and this slip of verdure appeared to stretch...“ ⬇ 10mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...into it as much through love of its clear waters as the lake, moved by a like impulse, strove to fold the meadow, with its waving grass and flowers, and the cooling shade of the trees, in its embrace of love. They seemed to be drawn toward each other, and the one to be visiting the other as a guest.“
Then the Macgregor version: “A fisherman brought a stool to the doorway of his home and, sitting down, he began to mend his nets. ⬇ 10mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...His cottage stood in the midst of green meadows, and his eyes grew glad as he looked at the green grass. After the heat of the fair summer‘s day it was so cool, so refreshing.“
The Macgregor is SO abbreviated! I looked up the Bunnett version, and it's very similar to the Hoopla version (1845?). AND—it is so fascinating that Mary Macgregor of my “Told to the Children” edition was friends with LMM and co-authored a book with her!!! ⬇ 10mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) Like you, reading that author description brought back vague recollections for me, from Rubio's discussions of other Canadian women writers. Honestly, I had dismissed reading the Macgregor version, but now the LMM connection makes me want to read both! (Dante for the Children?! 😂😂) I do want to look up the Rackham illustrations as I read, creepy or not 😂 Also: super interesting that this story influenced Hans Christian Andersen! 10mo

TheAromaofBooks Definitely sounds like MacGregor is “retelling“ rather than translating! I'm getting the impression that she did a whole series of children's versions of various tales. Although why she would think Dante was important to tackle is beyond me 😂 I read the first chapter of Undine today and it was really intriguing!!! I'm excited to see where this story is going to go. Also, I was reading the first chapter of Little Women for #HashtagBrigade and ⬇ 10mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) couldn't believe that Jo mentions wanting to get a copy of Undine!!!! 10mo

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