A talk delivered at the Jules
Verne Mondial, March, 2005 by Norman Wolcott, Rockville, MD, USA. [Originally
intended to cover mainly the English translators, hence the title, but now slightly expanded to cover other
translators as well.]
Who are they, these
translators of Verne? Mostly we know them only as a name in a bibliography, but
they were real people. Some were famous authors, others little known
journalists; some English clergymen, others ardent Catholics; some old, some
young; some published only a few books, others over a hundred; some English,
some American; some lived long, some died young — in short, a cross section of
19th century literary activity. But these are the authors whose works good and
bad, through the hundreds of thousands of reprints printed in then copyright
free America have preserved the knowledge of Verne for the English speaking
world. [Translations of particular merit are marked by a red star *. Those particularly bad are marked with a black ball
·.]
Anne Toppan Wilbur
The
first translation of a Verne
story into the English language was done by
Anne Toppan Wilbur (1817-1864)
(married names Anne T. Wood, Mrs. John T. Procter), born in the town of
Wendell, Massachusetts in Franklin County, 90 miles west of Boston and later a
resident of Newburyport, Mass. She was
the daughter of Hervey Wilbur, D.D. (1787—1852), a Congregational minister at
Wendell, Mass. from 1817-1823 and
later at Newburyport. He published several religious books and a text book Elements of Astronomy (1829) and
lectured on natural history and astronomy.
Anne Toppan Wilbur, born in the town of Wendell,
Franklin County, Massachusetts, 20 June, 1817 ; died near Marletta, Ohio, 14 September,
1864, was educated at Newburyport and elsewhere. After completing her studies,
she taught music at New Hampton, New Hampshire, Gorham, Maine, and in schools
in other places. She translated several volumes from the French and other
languages, among them "The Solitude of Juan Fernandez " (Boston,
1851), and contributed chiefly fiction, under the name of "Florence
Leigh," to various periodicals. In 1848 she edited the Boston "
Ladies' Magazine" and the Lowell, Massachusetts, " Ladies'
Casket." After becoming Mrs. Joseph Wood, she published English versions
of X. B. Saintine's " Queen of the Danube " and Edmond About's "
La question Romaine" (Boston, 1859), and " Romance of a Mummy"
(Columbus, 1860).
Ms. Wilbur published under the pseudonyms of Mrs. Annie
T. Wood, Mrs. John Procter, and Florence Leigh, the latter mainly in her
contributions to periodicals. She translated works from French into English.
Her Verne translations are:
I. *A Voyage in a Balloon by
Jules Verne. Translated from the French by Anne T. Wilbur, published in:
Sartain’s Union Magazine of Literature and Art, Philadelphia, May 1852, Vol. X,
No. 5, pgs 389-395, 2 chapters. Available on-line at {Balloon}.
II. *The Pearl of Lima. A Story of True Love. Translated from the French of M. Jules Verne by Anne T.
Wilbur, Graham’s Magazine, Philadelphia, April 1853, Vol. XLII, No. 4, pgs
422-445, 9 chapters.
These early works by Jules
Verne were published in French as Un voyage
en ballon: 1851 and Martin Paz,
nouvelle historique: 1852. These works have also been translated by
Elizabeth Frewer and George Towle, offering an opportunity to compare the
styles of these various translators. This early version of Un voyage en ballon contains in miniature many of the features of
the later Voyages Extraordinaires and
is a different version from the one later published by Hetzel.
Ms. Wilbur published numerous
translations in literary magazines of the time and translated several other books
from the French, including the first translation of The Romance of the Mummy (La
Roman de la Momie) by Théophile Gautier, Bradburn, New York: 1863. (This
story of an archaeologist in love with a 2000 year old mummy is an early novel
of the science-fiction genre.) She
died at the young age of 47. Had she but lived a few more years what
labours the reconstructionists of the
English Verne would have been spared! More on Anne Wilbur is available at the {Andrew Nash}
Andrew Nash website. Her book translations are:
The Solitary of Juan Fernandez ; or, The Real Robinson Crusoe, by Joseph Xavier Boniface Santine, Ticknor, Reed, and
Fields,Boston: 1851
Chrisna; the Queen of the Danube, by Joseph Xavier Boniface Santine, Translated
from the French by Anne Toppan (Wilbur) Wood Delisser & Procter, New
York: 1859
The Roman Question,
by E. About, translated by Annie T. Wood, J. E. Tilton and Co., Boston: 1859
The Romance of the Mummy, by Théophile Gautier, Columbus, Ohio: 1860; Bradburn,
New York: 1863
The following scientific
magazine articles translated by Ms. Wilbur may be of interest:
. *The Death Of Nicholas Copernicus.;
Translated from the French by Anne T Wilbur. Christian Parlor Magazine
(1844-1855). New York: Jan 1, 1849. p. 268 (4 pages). One of the first of Ms. Willur’s
translations.
* Aerial Ascensions.; Translated from the French by Anne T Wilbur,
Christian Parlor Magazine (1844-1855). New York: May 1, 1852. p. 69 (5 pages) .
Available on-line at {Aerial
Ascensions} The French version of this article was
written by a J. -B. Gaspard published in the Musèe des Familles in 1850. The article is of especial interest
because (1) Verne referred to it when publishing Un voyage en ballon, and (2) the article employs many of the
stylistic artifices used so effectively in Verne’s later work.
A large list of articles translated by Ms. Wilbur
is in Appendix I.
There were two translations of
Earth to the Moon published in local
newspapers in 1867, but the authors of these are not known. The next known
translator is:
Jeheiel Keeler Hoyt
In June, 1869, the Newark Daily News and Weekly Journal published
From the Earth to the Moon translated
by Jehiel [1] Keeler
Hoyt (1820—1895), the first full length book by Verne attributable to an
American author.
Prior to the Civil War Mr.
Hoyt ran a successful business as a “general dealer” (factor, broker — NMW) in
New Orleans, but with the outbreak of war he lost everything. Returning north
he engaged in literary activities and
became editor of the New Brunswick
Times. In the 1860 census he was listed as living in Chatham, New Jersey,
occupation: merchant, age: 38; wife: Phebe Hoyt, age: 34; child: Robert D.
Hoyt, age: 2; Phebe F. Hoyt, age: 71; worth: $8000.
Mr. Hoyt’s literary efforts
commenced with his From the Earth to the
Moon in 1869; his experience in New Orleans no doubt adding to his facility
with the French language. According to his obituary he also translated other
French books, but at the moment there is no record of these. In 1872 this was
followed by a novel The Romance of the
Table, and in 1874 by a non-fiction
work Pen, Pencil Pictures on the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.
By 1875 Mr. Hoyt had become a
resident of Newark, New Jersey where he resided until his death. In the early
1870’s he became managing editor of the Newark
Daily Advertiser, continuing in that position until 1885. In the 1880
census he was listed as living at 276 Belleville Ave., age: 52, occupation:
local editor; his wife Phebe J. Hoyt, age: 50; his son Robert D. Hoyt, age: 22,
occupation: compositor. 1882 Funk and Wagnals published his The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations,
a popular reference work which they continued to republish as late as 1940.
After 1885 he later did editorial work for the Newark Journal and in 1893 became an editorial writer for the Newark Times until it ceased
publication. He died in Plainfield, New Jersey on February 9, 1895
He published a novel The Romance of the Table (1872) and in
1882 Funk and Wagnals published his The
Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations,
later republished as Hoyt’s New
cyclopedia of practical quotations drawn from the speech and literature of all
nations, ancient and modern, classic and popular, in English and foreign text
with the names, dates, and nationality of quoted authors, and copious indexes
and which was reprinted as late as 1940.
[NY Times obit, Feb 10, 1895; Victor
Berch, James Lewis, private communications]
His Verne book is:
I. From the Earth to the Moon; Passage Direct in 97 hours
and 20 minutes, Newark, NJ: Newark Daily and Weekly Journal: 1869, later reprinted as a paper
cover book.
His other known publications
are:
The Romance of the Table in Three Parts, New Brunswick, NJ: New Jersey Times, 1872. This novel is available on line as part of the Making of America project: {Romance of the Table}
Pen,
Pencil Pictures on the Delaware,
Lackawanna and Western Railroad, New York, NY: W.H. Caldwell,
1874
The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations, New York, NY: Funk and Wagnals, 1882
William Lackland
On February 20, 1869 D. Appleton (N.Y.), published an unauthorized
(pirate) edition of Five Weeks in a
Balloon translated by the fictitious
“William Lackland”, the first fully illustrated
edition of a Verne novel in English. The illustrations for this volume were
carefully re-engraved in America from the French originals with the original
engraver’s names removed. This translation has been republished in most
American editions of this work. “William Lackland” also published articles in Appletons’ Journal: a magazine of general literature (1869)
{MOA}, and may also have contributed a review to
this journal with a partial translation in To
the Centre of the Earth, from the French of Jules Verne, May 1st, 1869. His Verne translation is:
I. *Five Weeks in a Balloon; or journeys and
discoveries in Africa, by three Englishmen. Compiled in French by J. Verne from
the original notes of dr. Ferguson; and done into English by William Lackland
[pseud.] 345 pp. 6 pl. D. Appleton & co.; New York: 1869
His possible review/translation is:
II. *To the Centre of the Earth, in Appletons’ Journal: a Magazine of General Literature, Volume 1, Issue 5 at page 142-146 in the issue of May 1, 1869, the first appearance of any part of this work in English.
His other known book translation is:
Meteors,
Aerolites, Storms, and Atmospheric Phenomena; From the French of
Zürcher and Margoleé. By William
Lackland, Illustrated with 23 fine
woodcuts by Lebreton, D. Appleton and Company, New York: 1870
The scene now shifts to
England where there began a rush to get Verne novels into print. In October,
1871, Griffith & Farran in the U.K. published Journey to the Centre of the Earth by an anonymous translator which
sold for the then enormous sum of £7. This was the first illustrated edition of
a Verne work in England. It is also one of the most corrupt translations.
In 1871 after the
Franco-Prussian war Sampson Low made an agreement with Hetzel & Co. to be
the “authorized publisher” of Jules Verne in English, (later interpreted to
include the U.S.) thus giving them a monopoly on all future Verne works and in
particular the illustrations.
Lewis Page Mercier; Eleanor
E. King
For their first work Sampson
Low & Co. chose Twenty Thousand
Leagues under the Seas published in November, 1872, with the translator Rev. Lewis Page Mercier, (1820-1875) B.A.
Oxon.,1841, M.A. 1855. Born in 09 JAN 1820 (Christening: 07 FEB 1820 Old
Church, Saint Pancras, London), Mercier came of French Huguenot stock; his
grandfather was pastor of the French Protestant church in Threadneedle St.
London, his father was active in educational activities. He almost certainly
spoke French at home as a child, and may have been one of the few native French
speakers to translate Verne. The family was located in the London borough of
Hackney, home of the original silk industry of French mercers (= fr. mercier). In 1837 he entered Trinity
College, Oxford, where he was the College Latin Essayist. He received a Third
in “Greats” (Greek and Latin) and obtained a post-graduate bursary at
University College, Oxford, the “Browne Exhibition”, established by one Browne
in 1587. Foregoing an academic but at the time necessarily celibate career, he
gave up his exhibition to marry Anna Marie Hovell in 1841. He became a deacon
in 1842 and a presbyter in 1845.
His first posting was to Glasgow where
he was Assistant Minister of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Chapel, 2nd master of the
Glasgow College School, and Chaplain to the Garrison, after which he moved on
to be 2nd Master at a new school in Edgbaston near Birmingham (1846) and
headmaster (1849). In 1857 he moved back to Hackney becoming headmaster at the
St. John’s Foundation School and Assistant Reader at the Chapel of the
Foundling Hospital in nearby Brunswick Square. In 1861 we find him living at
the school at age 41, head of a family of 9 children (ages 1,2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10,
14, 15), numerous servants and 25 pupils. Relieved of his position by the
Governing Board in 1861, he then became Chaplain at the Chapel of the Foundling
Hospital, then one of the most important charitable institutions in England.
The Foundling Hospital was
the first public charity in England, established in 1739 by a Royal
Charter granted by King George II and Queen Caroline. The buildings were
erected on 53 acres purchased by Thomas Coram the ship captain who sponsored
its establishment. Early benefactors were the painter Hogarth and George
Friedrich Handel who played at the opening and conducted the Messiah every year
thereafter. Well known artists contributed paintings, and the Foundling
Hospital became the first picture gallery in the country. Church services at
the chapel with famous preachers, famous musicians, a professional choir and
organist attracted large crowds of the most well connected people in London
throughout the century. The buildings were torn down in 1926 to make way for a
fish market which was never built.
In 1865 Lewis Mercier
suddenly found it necessary to borrow £250 secured by a bond from Lord Leigh of
Stoneleigh (Warwickshire), the wealthiest landowner in England, at the rate of
12% per annum. (Lord Leigh had appointed him “Provincial Grand Chaplain to the
Freemasons, Warwickshire in 1852.) By 1870, in ill health and unable to repay
his debt when it came due, he was forced in
extremis to seek extra funds by translating for Sampson Low, who were in
the process of printing a religious book of his.
Mercier offered one great
advantage to Sampson Low: speed. A native French speaker, an excellent
linguist, fluent in several languages, with the aid of his assistant Eleanor Elizabeth King (1838 — ??) he was able to translate four novels in little over a
year in his spare time, enabling Sampson Low to come out with a new Verne book
for the Christmas trade in 1872 and 1873. To avoid a conflict of interest with
his position as Chaplain, Mercier wrote under the pen names of “Mercier Lewis,
M.A., Oxon.” And “Louis Mercier”. Mercier has been pilloried in America for
decades for the 20% deletions in the text of his translations, but in view of
his desperate financial situation it is more than likely that the deletions
were either performed or dictated by his editors at Sampson Low. We shall never
know for sure as the offices of Sampson Low in Fleet Street were completely
destroyed by the bombing of London in December, 1940. There is also internal
evidence to indicate that editors made changes to Mercier’s translation even in
press; an even more drastically cut version of 20,000 Leagues (175 pp.) was published by Sampson Low, Marston
& Co., Ltd. in the early 1900’s.
The following are the Verne
books translated by Lewis Mercier:
I. · Twenty thousand Leagues under
the Sea, Sampson Low et al.: Nov., 1872
II. · From the Earth to the Moon
and a Trip Around It, Sampson Low et al.: Oct.,
1873
III. Around the World in Eighty Days. Falsely attributed to Lewis Mercier. The only reason
for this attribution is the 1962 edition in England by Collier and in the U.S.
by Doubleday of a “Junior Deluxe Edition” attributing the translation to
“Mercier Lewis”. The book is in fact a simply a bowdlerized version of Towle’s
1873 translation.
Mercier also translated The Wreck of the Hansa, (The German Arctic expedition of
1869-70), Sampson Low et al.: 1874, as well as publishing several religious
works and instructional works for teachers of Greek and Latin. He was forced to
resign his position at the Foundling Hospital by the Governing Board in early
1873 after troubles arose over his supervision of the schools, and he died on
Tuesday November 2nd, 1875, the date his semi-annual payment of £15 to Lord Leigh was due. His other publications
are:
A Manual of Greek Prosody. / Mercier, Lewis Page.-- 12 vo, Glasgow, 1843.
Selections from Æsop, Xenophon, and Anacreon, for the use of junior forms in schools. / Mercier, Lewis Page.-- 12 vo,
London, 1851.
The Present European Crisis viewed in its relation to
Prophecy; a sermon [on Rev. xxii. 10], etc.
/ Mercier, Lewis Page.-- 8 vo, London, 1853.
The Principles of Christian Charity derived from the
example of our Saviour and His Apostles. /
Mercier, Lewis Page.-- 8 vo, London, 1855.
Considerations respecting a future state, an essay / Mercier, Lewis Page.-- 8 vo, London, Oxford: 1858
“The Christian and the Harvest.” A sermon [on Matt. iv. 4], etc. / Mercier, Lewis
Page.-- 8 vo, London, 1860.
“The Mystery of God’s Providence.” A sermon [on Eccl.
vii. 15] preached ... Dec. 22, 1861, on
the occasion of the death of H. R. H. the Prince Consort. / Mercier, Lewis Page; Albert, Prince Consort of
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.-- London, [1861.]
“The Eucharistic Feast.” A brief historical inquiry into
the true nature of the Lord’s Supper. /
Mercier, Lewis Page.-- 8 vo, London, 1868.
Outlines of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ : with
critical and expository notes, and an emendation of the common chronologies / by the Rev. Lewis Mercier.-- London : Sampson Low,
Marston, Low & Searle, 1871, 1872
The German Arctic Expedition of 1869-70, and narrative
of the wreck of the “Hansa” in the ice. By Captain Koldewey ... assisted by
members of the scientific staff. With ...
illustrations. Translated and abridged by the Rev. L. Mercier; and edited by H.
W. Bates. ;-- London : Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, 1874
The British Museum. An impartial statement, in answer to
a pamphlet [by Stephen Poles] entitled ‘The Actual Condition of the British
Museum.’ By M. A. [i.e. L. P. Mercier.] / A.,
M. ; Mercier, Lewis Page ; Poles, Stephan ; London : Spottiswoode & Co.,
1875.
Ellen Elizabeth Frewer
While Mercier was translating
Twenty Thousand Leagues, Sampson Low
proceeded with the translation of their next Verne novel, Meridiana, The Adventures of Three Englishmen and Three Russians in
South Africa, engaging for this the services of Ellen Elizabeth Frewer (1848 — 1901+). Miss Frewer was the daughter
of George Frewer and Elizabeth Lydia Frewer. George Frewer attended St. John’s
College, Cambridge with a B.A., 1844 in mathematics and M.A. 1847. He was a
Church of England clergyman, a 2nd Mathematics Master at Eton College
(1844-1873) and then Rector of Hitcham, Maidenhead at a salary of £490. Born in
1848 in Slough, Miss Frewer was christened 27 Feb 1848 in Upton Cum Chalvey,
Buckingham, England. In 1871 she was living with her family at 91 Common Lane,
Eton College. She was educated at Queen’s College, London, where she passed
with honors the Cambridge local examinations. Schooled in both French and German,
she was only 23 when she started translating for Sampson Low. She also showed
spirit in translating under her own name, treading on that Victorian code of
respectability which required that young ladies of good breeding should not be
involved in “business”. Unfortunately Meridiana
was published the same month as Twenty
Thousand Leagues and so attracted little attention. Ms. Frewer however
continued translating Verne novels for the next ten years; coming from a family
of means she may have been able to exert control over her published works which
comprise largely uncut translations of the original Verne, although she does
add a few niceties of her own. She continued to live with her family until
after 1901 and does not appear to have married. Her Verne translations are:
I. Meridiana; The Adventures of Three Englishmen and Three
Russians in South Africa, Sampson Low et al.: 1872 (?
1876)
II. The Survivors of the Chancellor; and Martin Paz, Sampson Low et al.: 1875
III. Hector Servadac, Sampson
Low et al.: 1877
IV. Dick Sands; the Boy Captain, Sampson Low et al.: 1878
V. The Tribulations of a Chinaman in China, Sampson Low et al.:
1880
Ms. Frewer also translated
several books of exotic travel and adventure for Sampson Low up until 1882 and
a life of Victor Hugo listed below:
The Heart of Africa: Three Years’ Travels and Adventures
in the Unexplored Regions of the Centre of Africa, 1868-71, by Dr. George Schweinfurth. Illust. and Maps, London,
1873, 2 vols 8v0. (Translated from the German).
The Adventures of Captain Mago; or a Phoenician
Expedition, B.C. 1000, by Leon Calum. Illust.
London, 1876, 8vo.
Seven Years in South Africa: Travels, Researches, and
Hunting Adventures between the Diamond-fields and the Zambesi, (1872-1879), by Dr. Emil Hobub, with 200 original illustrations and
a Map. London, 1881, 2 vols 8vo, with an introduction by Winwood
Reade. “Emil Holub’s compelling ambition
was to follow in the footsteps of David Livingstone and, specifically, to reach
Luanda by way of the Zambesi valley and across Angola.” (Translated from the
German)
Victor Hugo and his Times, by Alfred Barbou; illustrated with 120 drawings by
Émile Bayard, Clerget, Fichel, Jules Garnier [et al] and a great
number of drawings by Victor Hugo, engraved by Méaulle ; London,
1882, 8vo, Translated from the French.
Nancy Regina Emily Meugens
For their next book, The Fur Country, Sampson Low turned to Nancy Regina Emily Meugens, (1844-1933). Nancy Meugens was born 2 Sep 1844 in Lambeth,
Surrey. She wrote under the nom de plume
of “N. D’Anvers” until her marriage in 1882, after which she used the name of
“Mrs. Arthur Bell”. Her father, Pierre Joseph Meugens, was born (1808) in
Belgium. Her pseudonym is of course easily understood as referring
to “Nancy D’Anvers = Nancy from Antwerp”.
Les pays
de fourrures was published in France 19 June
1873; Meugens completed the translation in October, 1873, and Sampson Low
published it with 100 illustrations in November, one month after the
French edition. The long wait for English
Verne novels was over. Her Verne translations are:
I. The Fur Country, Sampson
Low, Marston, Low, and Searle:1873, (her first published work at age 28),
reprinted by James Osgood, Boston: 1873.
II. The Great Navigators of the XIX’th Century, Sampson Low, Marston, Low, Searle and Rivington: 1880.
III. The Blockade Runners, Sampson
Low, et al.: 1874; ascribed in some editions to “N. D’Anvers”.
IV. Around the World in Eighty Days, Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle: 1873; listed
there (erroneously, N.W.) to George Towle and “N. D’Anvers”. This last book is
almost certainly the sole work of George Towle; Meugens may have performed some
editorial work. A critical examination of the American and English editions is
required.
In 1882 Ms. Meugens married
the London landscape painter Arthur George Bell (1849-1916), who illustrated
several of her books. These lithographs are the sole remnant of his artistic
work. An ardent catholic, she continued to publish numerous religious, travel,
and art history books until 1920.
In 1902 Mrs. Bell was
approached by the publishers George Bell & Sons to write a biography of
James McNeil Whistler, the painter. There is a collection of 24 letters
regarding this project, of which Whistler strongly disapproved, regarding Mrs.
Bell’s attempt to obtain permission to include photographs of some of
Whistler’s paintings in her book. The 24
letters of this correspondence are available at the Centre for Whistler Studies
at the University of {Glasgow} Glasgow
involving Whistler and Charles Freer, the American collector who acquired
Whistler’s famous “Peacock Room” for the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C. The
biography was eventually published after Whistler’s death in 1904.
She died at her home in
Rastgarth, Southbourne-on-Sea, Hampshire on 30 Aug 1933. At that time she was
one of the two surviving translators of Verne who had worked for Sampson Low.
(Note in press: the dates for William John Gordon have not yet been
determined.) A selection of her other publications follows:
Elementary history of art : An introduction to ancient
and modern architecture, sculpture, painting, music, by N. D’Anvers
[pseud.] With a preface by T. Roger Smith.-- London : Asher & Co., 1874
The house on wheels; or, Far from home, from the French
of Mme. De Stolz by N. D’Anvers.-- London: 1874
To the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi / Tr. from the German of Edward Mohr, by N.
D.’Anvers.-- S. Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, London : 1876
Heroes of South African discovery by N. D’Anvers
[pseud.].-- Marcus Ward and Company, London : 1878
Pre-historic America by the Marquis de Nadaillac ; translated by
N. d’Anvers [pseud.] ; edited by W.H. Dall.-- J. Murray, London : 1885
Discovery of lakes Rudolf and Stefanie : a narrative of
Count Samuel Teleki’s exploring & hunting expedition in Eastern Equatorial
Africa in 1887 & 1888, by his companion Lieut.
Ludwig von Höhnel ; translated by Nancy Bell (N. d’Anvers) ... With 179
original illustrations and 5 coloured maps. In two volumes.-- Longmans, Green,
London : 1894
French enterprise in Africa : the personal narrative of
Lieut. Hourst of his exploration of the Niger ,
translated by Mrs. Arthur Bell (N. D’Anvers).-- Chapman & Hall, London :
1898
James McNeill Whistler. [With
plates, including a portrait.] by Mrs. Arthur Bell /N. D’Anvers, George Bell,
London: 1904
George Makepeace Towle
In early 1873 the American
publisher James Osgood of Boston, Mass., collaborated with George Makepeace Towle (1841-1893) for the
publication of a translation of Around
the World in Eighty Days, which had just been published in France. George
Towle (27 Aug 1841 — 9 Aug 1893) was born in Washington, D. C., the only son of
Nathaniel Carter and Eunice (Makepeace) Towle. He was graduated in arts from
Yale in 1861, and in law at Harvard Law School in 1863. He practiced law in
Boston till 1865, when he became associate editor of the Boston Post, and in 1866 he published the first of his many books,
a popular work called Glimpses of
History. In 1866 he was appointed United States Consul at Nantes, France.
After serving there for two years he was transferred to the consulate in
Bradford, England. While in Europe he acquired a command of French that he utilized
as a translator of Jules Verne and other popular writers in that language, and
gained a knowledge of European politics of which he made literary use. One of
his many prominent friends was Charles Dickens, to whose periodical, All The Year Round, he contributed many
articles on American affairs. In 1870 he published a book, American Society (2 vols.), in London.
In Boston he commenced the
translating of Verne, ushering in a period in which the English translations
appeared almost as soon as the French editions were published. The French
edition of Le tour du Monde en
quatre-vingt jours was published 30 Jan 1873 and by 7 July 1873 Osgood had
already had published Towle’s translation. Osgood evidently had made an
arrangement with Sampson Low, as Low used Towle’s translation of Eighty Days and Osgood used Low’s Fur Country. The year 1873 marked a high
point for the appearance of Verne in English, with no fewer than four new
novels appearing in time for the Christmas season.
Towle continued to translate
the Verne novels for James Osgood, until the bankruptcy of the firm in 1876.
The translations are of a uniformly high quality, though he does use rather
florid Victorian language (such as “Teutons” for “Germans”). His Verne
translations are:
I. Around the World in Eighty Days, James Osgood, Boston: 1873, reprinted by Sampson Low.
II. Dr. Ox and Other Stories, including Master
Zacharius, A Drama in the Air, and
A Winter amid the Ice, James Osgood:
1874, reprinted by Sampson Low, 1874.
III. The Wreck of the Chancellor; Martin Paz, James Osgood: 1874.
After returning to America
Towle continued actively in the literary life of Boston publishing over 50
books and articles and giving public lectures on topics of the day. On 16 Sep
1866, he was married in Paris to Nellie
Lane of Boston, who survived him. He died in Brookline after a long illness
culminating in paralysis of the brain, and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery.
He had no children. [American National
Biography, Cyclopedia of American Biography]
Stephen W. White, William
Struthers
Stephen W. White and William
Struthers translated several of Verne’s books which were printed first in the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph and later
in double column newspaper books. Unlike Towle and some of the English
translators who had literary pretensions and used Verne as a stepping stone to
further literary activity, Stephen White was a commercial translator of legal
documents. He maintained an office at 114 South Third St., a few doors from the
Evening Telegraph, and advertised in
that paper that he was a "Phonographer and Translator" who "will
furnish on short notice and at reasonable terms, Phonographic reports and
Translations of German and French legal and other documents." He
translated as he would a legal document, literally with no embellishments.
1. Advertisement of Stephen W. White in Philadelphia Evening Telegraph
Thus the translations are
mainly word for word translations of the French, although the latter part of
Mysterious Island suffers some editorial cuts. However White’s translation of Mysterious Island does contain the only
contemporary accurate rendition of the
death of Nemo in Volume III and retains the correct character names. Struthers
may have been a co-worker to whom White assigned the shorter work Soujourn in the Ice. His (and
Struther’s) Verne books are:
I. * The Tour of the World in Eighty Days, tr. by Stephen W. White, Philadelphia Evening Telegraph: June 27,
1874--July 17, 1874; reprinted by Charles E. Warburton (Bound together with
II.)
II. A Fancy of Doctor Ox , tr. by Stephen W. White, Philadelphia
Evening Telegraph, June 20, 1874:
reprinted by Warburton, (Bound together with I.)
III. * A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, tr. by Stephen W. White, Philadelphia Evening
Telegraph: Sept. 12, 1874--Oct. 5, 1874, reprinted by Warburton. (Bound
together with IV.)
IV. A Winter’s Sojourn in the Ice, tr. by William Struthers,
Philadelphia Evening Telegraph: Oct. 6, 1874--Oct. 10, 1874, reprinted by
Charles E. Warburton. (Bound together with III.)
V. *Mysterious Island,
Philadelphia Evening Telegraph: 1876, republished Project Gutenberg: 2003 (N.
Wolcott and Sidney Kravitz, eds.)
Abby Langdon Alger
Abby
Langford Alger (1850—1907) was the
oldest daughter of the Reverend William Rounseville Alger(1822-1905) and Anne
Langdon Lodge Alger She was a cousin of Horatio Alger, Jr., the author of many
children's books. She was born
August 3, 1850 in Roxbury, MA and died May 23, 1907 in Brookline, MA. An
accomplished linguist as was her father, a graduate of Harvard College, she was
the eldest of seven siblings, many of whom were well known in their respective
fields.[2]
Her only Verne translation, From the
Clouds to the Mountains, (Doctor Ox)
is written down for the American audience, leaving out place and river names and
referring to the Flemish as "Dutch" for example. Included is a
translation of the Fortieth French Ascent
of Mont Blanc by Paul Verne.
I. From the Clouds to the Mountains, Compelling
Narratives of Strange Adventures by Air, Land, and Water, William
F. Gill and Company, Boston: 1874
Some of her other
translations are:
Life of Robert Schuman, by J. W. von Wasielowsky, Boston: 1871
Reading as a Fine Art, by
Ernest Legouvé, Boston: 1879
Mischief Book, from the
German of W. Busch, Boston: 1879
The Actor and his Art,
from the French of C.Coquelin, Boston: 1881
The Usurper, an Episode in Japanese History, by Judith Gautier, Boston: 1884
The Life and Works of Robert Schuman, by A. Reissmann, London: 1886
The Little Flower of St. Francis of Assissi, from the Italian with a brief account of the life of
St. Francis, Boston: 1887
Frederick Amadeus Malleson
In the mid 1870’s the
publishers Ward, Lock, and Tyler and George Routledge and Sons commissioned new
translations of some of Verne’s books which were a great improvement on the
early mis-translations of Griffith & Farran and Sampson Low. The first of
these was Frederick Amadeus Malleson
(1819-1897).
Frederick Amadeus Malleson
was born in 1819. He was graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, B.A. 1853 and
M.A. 1860. He was ordained a deacon in 1853. In 1870 he acquired the living at
the church of Broughton-in-Furness, Lancashire, (net income of £130) a small
town in the Lake District near Ulverston, remaining in this peaceful corner
until his death in 1897. In 1871 the population was 1255. A local history in
1882 said “The principal trade of the place now consists in the making of hoops
and baskets (locally called swills), brushstocks and rake and fork shafts, the
material being supplied from the coppice wood which abounds in the Furness
fells. . . Broughton Church, dedicated
to St. Mary Magdalen, is of ancient foundation. . . A tablet in the Church
records that the living was endowed in 1766 with lands purchased with £400, The
living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of James Sawrey Cookson, Esq.,
J.P., and in the incumbency of the Rev.
F. A. Malleson, M.A.” In 1881 he was living at the Vicarage with his wife
Lucy, 3 nieces, and a sister-in-law.
Malleson’s first literary
efforts were translations from the French, the first in 1875 being Brigadier Frederic: a story of an Alsacian
Exile. [Translated by F. A. Malleson.] by Émile Erckmann and Pierre
Alexandre Chatrian. Apparently intrigued by these two authors he also
translated their The Man-Wolf and Other
Tales. [1876]. The same year A
Journey into the Interior of the Earth appeared, published by Ward, Lock, and Tyler. As with
other clergymen, Malleson avoided his own name in publishing these
non-religious books, signing only the preface with “F.A.M.”
He published and edited
several religious works and a travel book on Wordsworth’s Switzerland. He was a
friend and correspondent of John Ruskin; their correspondence has been
published in two volumes. His Verne translations are:
I. · Five Weeks in a Balloon, Ward, Lock, and Tyler: 1875 [The author questions this attribution to F.A.M.
Although listed in bibliographies, the style is totally foreign to that of II.]
II. * A Journey into the Interior
of the Earth, Ward, Lock, and Tyler: 1876.
Republished Project Gutenberg, 2001. (N. Wolcott, ed.)
His translation of Interior of the Earth is careful and
accurate; he indicated such was his desire in the preface. Changes for
religious reasons are only a few lines where Verne discusses the “creation”.
Some of his other works are:
Doddridge’s Rise & Progress of Religion in the Soul. / Doddridge, Philip ; Malleson, Frederick Amadeus.--
London, J. B. Bateman: 1842.
Brigadier Frederic: a Story of an Alsatian Exile. Erckmann, Émile, and Chatrian, Pierre Alexandre,
[tr. by F. A. M.]; London, Smith Elder & Co.: 1875.
The Man-Wolf and Other Tales. Erckmann, Émile, and Chatrian, Pierre Alexandre; tr. by F. A. M.; Ward, Lock, and Tyler: 1876.
Letters addressed by Professor Ruskin, D.C.L., to the
clergy on the Lord’s prayer and the Church /
edited by F. A. Malleson.-- s.l. : Printed for private circulation, [1879]
Jesus Christ, his life and his work. / Malleson, Frederick Amadeus -- London, Ward, Lock
& Co.: 1880.
The Lord’s prayer and the church : letters to the clergy / by John Ruskin; edited, with essays and comments, by
the Rev. F.A. Malleson....-- London,
Strahan and Company: 1880.
Holiday Studies of Wordsworth by Rivers, Woods, and Alps
: the Wharfe, the Duddon, and the Stelvio Pass / by Rev. F.A. Malleson.-- London ; Paris : Cassell and
Co., [1890]
Henry Frith
Henry Frith (1840 — 1910) was born
in Dublin, Ireland, educated at Cheltenham College, and entered Trinity
College, Dublin, July 1st, 1857 with the aim of studying for the profession of
civil engineer. His father, also Henry Frith, worked for the Ordnance Office in
Dublin.
His civil service appointment
came however from the War Office. He remained there until 1875 when he retired
on a pension and subsequently devoted himself to literature. Presumably an
agnostic his translations are free from Victorian religious overtones. One of
his first literary efforts was the translation of Vingt mille lieues sur les mers (1876). With his scientific
background he understood much of what Verne had written, and this translation
has remained one of the best of the time with only minor deletions from the
original text. He revised Kingston’s translation[3]
of Swiss Family Robinson and
published his own later with 200 woodcut and coloured engravings (1878). He published works on graphology and
palmistry, his Chiromancy; or, The
Science of Palmistry ran to 17 editions. His published translations,
novels, and instructional titles on electricity and steam engines amount to
nearly 200. In 1881 he was living in Battersea Rise, Hatfield House, Battersea,
Surrey with his wife Mary, two daughters, two sons and three servants. He
described his occupation as “Author Editor Publisher’s Reader”. With no ties to
the Church of Englandhe did not omit material, although his trnslations are not
immune from the occasional blunder. His Verne translations are:
I. *Twenty Thousand Leagues Under
the Sea, Geo. Routledge and Sons: 1876
II. The Floating City and the Blockade Runners, Geo. Routledge and Sons: 1876
III. The Adventures of three Englishmen and three Russians in Southern
Africa ...Translated by H. Frith. / Verne, Jules ; Frith, Henry.--
Routledge and Sons: 1877
IV. Round the World in Eighty Days, George Routledge and Sons: 1878
V. The Fur Country, George Routledge and Sons: 1879
Some
of his publications are:
The adventures of Johnny Ironsides A tale : By J. Girardin With 117 illustrations by Emile Bayard
Translated by Henry Frith / Girardin, Jules, 1832-1888 ; Bayard, Emile, illus.,
1868- ; Frith, Henry, tr., 1840-.-- London : and New York George Routledge and
Sons, [1875] ; New York
The Corsican Brothers ... Translated by H. Frith. / Dumas, Alexandre, the
Elder ; Frith, Henry.-- London : George Routledge & Sons, 1880.
Chiromancy or the science of palmistry : being a
concise exposition of the principles and practice of the art of reading the
hand, by which the past, the present, and the future may be explained and
foretold ... / Illustrated by Dora Noyes.--
London, 1883
Unac, the Indian, a tale of adventure in America
Central / adapted from the French by Henry
Frith.-- London, 1884
A guide to the study of graphology with an
explanation of some of the mysteries of handwriting / Frith, Henry.-- London, 1886
Half hours of scientific amusement : practical
physics and chemistry without apparatus /
translated from the French of Gaston Tissandier by Henry Frith.-- London ; New
York : Ward, Lock, 1890
The Romance of Navigation: a brief record of
maritime discovery from the earliest times to the 18th century ... With ... illustrations. / Frith, Henry.-- London :
Ward & Lock, 1893.
Practical Palmistry. A treatise on Chirosophy
based upon actual experience ... With numerous illustrations, etc. / Frith, Henry.-- London : Ward, Lock & Co., 1895.
Thomas H.
Linklater
Thomas H. Linklater (1849—??) was born in London. In 1871 he was living with his
brother, Robert Linklater, in Beckenham, Kent, Chaplain at Abbey Park, and he
listed his occupation as accountant. By 1877 he had translated the two Moon Novels, and in 1881 we find him at
the Mission House, 16 Marston St., Cowley, Oxfordshire, a religious hostel attached to Cowley St.
John, listing himself as a “Lay brother”. His brother Robert was also staying
there, now a clergyman, listed as “Mission Priest, Ch of Eng without C?”. A
number of visiting American clergymen were also staying there. The census
taker’s comments were “not missionaries in sense of work sheet”. In 1901 Robert
was living in Hornsey, Middlesex, with his wife Mary C. Linklater, his
sister-in-law, and 3 servants. Thomas may have become a missionary.
His
translation, probably the best of the time,
is:
I. *From the Earth to the Moon
Direct and Round the Moon, George Routledge and Sons:
1877
Edward Roth
Edward Roth (1826—1911) was born in England, and emigrated to the United States
about 1845. At some later time he became an instructor at the Broad Street
Academy in Philadelphia where he was still living in 1910. His Verne translations are :
I. The
Baltimore Gun Club, King and Baird,
Philadelphia: 1874
II. All Around the Moon, Philadelphia, Catholic Publication Society:
1876
III. To the Sun? a Journey through Planetary Space, Claxton, Remsen and Haffelfinger, Philadelphia: 1877
IV. Off on a Comet, a Journey
through Planetary Space, a sequel to To the Sun?, Claxton, Remsen and Haffelfinger, Philadelphia: 1878
Although
Roth's translations were more paraphrases (some would say parodies) than
translations, his All Around the Moon
does contain the first explanation of the calculation of the initial speed of
the projectile and the correct printing of the last equation in Chapter IV
which is incorrectly printed in all other versions of this book, French and
English. These translations probably would have subsided into the mists of
history had not Dover Publications revived them in 1960. The Dover editions
however have some of the best reproductions of the original Hetzel woodcuts
available. Roth's other publications
are:
Life of Napoleon III., Emperor of the
French, Boston, P.
Donahoe: 1856
Christus Judex. A traveller's
tale, ( A Tale of the White Mountains)
Frederick Leypoldt, Philadelphia: 1864. Online version at http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/wright2/wright2-2129
The Rescue of France, by C.F.B. Miel, tr. Edward Roth, Philadelphia, King & Baird, printers: 1872.
Short Geography, Philadelphia,
Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger: 1876
The art of reading, by Ernest Legouvé ... Translated, and illustrated with copious notes, by Edward Roth, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott & Co.: 1885
Gray Tigers of Smithville, Philadelphia, W. F. Fell & Co.: 1887
Conversational French and
English; an elementary knowledge of both languages taught by thorough practice
in the grammatical principles of each ... Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott: 1899
Select Orations of Lysias, Philadelphia, D. McKay: 1899
Sherlock Holmes (Conan
Doyle's famous creation), quelques chapitres de sa vie, a few chapters of
his life; avec questions et re´ponnses, with questions and answers.
Philadelphia, E. Roth:1902
Conversational French, especially intended for self-instruction,
schools, families, or American desirous of becoming French teachers. First
year. Philadelphia, E. Roth:
1903.
In 1893 Roth auctioned off his library and his
collection of "philosophical instruments"; the auction took four
days! The catalogue of his sale is in
the New York Public Library:
Valuable
private library : belonging to Prof. Edward Roth, of Phila. comprising a
general assortment of works in the various branches of literature : also a large
collection of philosophical instruments, to be sold ... May 8, 9, 10, and 11,
1893 ... sale conducted by Stan. V. Henkels ...
Agnes
Kinloch Kingston, William Henry Giles Kingston
With the appearance of the
three parts of L’Ile Mysterieuse,
Sampson Low turned from relatively unknown translators to the well known William Henry Giles Kingston (1814—1880). Kingston was a famous
juvenile author, having published over a hundred adventure books for boys since
the 1840’s. His writings occupy nine pages and a half of the British Museum
Catalogue. They were very popular; his tales were quite innocuous, but most of
them proved ephemeral; and today he is only remembered for the translations of Mysterious Island and Michael Strogoff.
He was born in London on the
28th of February 1814. Much of his youth was spent at Oporto, Portugal, where
his father was a merchant, but when he entered the business, he made his
headquarters in London. He early wrote newspaper articles on Portuguese
subjects. These were translated into Portuguese, and the author received a Portuguese
order of knighthood and a pension for his services in the conclusion of the
commercial treaty of 1842. In 1844 he started writing adventure novels. These
books proved so popular that Kingston retired from business, and devoted
himself to the production of tales of adventure for boys. Within thirty years
he wrote upwards of one hundred and thirty such books. He had a practical
knowledge of seamanship, and his stories of the sea, full of thrilling
adventures and hairbreadth escapes, exactly hit the taste of his boy readers.
He took an
interest in philanthropic activities ; he was a zealous volunteer and worked
actively for the improvement of the condition of seamen and acted as secretary
of a society for promoting an improved system of emigration.
In 1853 he
married Agnes Kinloch (1824—1913)
and spent his honeymoon in Canada. He founded Kingston’s Magazine for Boys (1859-62). In addition to
instructional articles written by Kingston, “ ...it also contained a number of
translations , and although they bore his name they were actually the work of
his wife, Agnes, a competent linguist. She also translated The Swiss Family Robinson [1877-NMW] from the German and a number
of separately published stories by Jules
Verne, all of which cite her husband as translator. ... Kingston suffered
serious financial difficulties with a family of eight children to support. In
1868 he applied for and was awarded grants of £50 and £100, from the Royal
Literary Fund, and was virtually bankrupt. His poor health and reduced circumstances
caused him to become a recluse in later life.” [4]
In 1942
Rev. R. M. Kingsford inherited the literary estate of the Kingston family on
the death of the last surviving son of W. H. G. Kingston. The estate included
the diaries of both Kingston and his wife Agnes. From these we learn that
“Agnes Kingston sang well, was an accomplished musician, had been taught art in
the art galleries of the Continent, and spoke French and German fluently.”[5]
Although the participation of Mrs. Kingston in her husband’s work was generally
known, and indeed would have been expected, in the late 19th century, it was
not until the 1940’s with Kingsford’s access to the diaries that it became
known that all of the translations, Swiss
Family Robinson, Mysterious Island,
and the rest were totally the work of Mrs. Kingston. Mrs. Kingston’s obituary
in the Times, May 28, 1913 in fact
states “Mrs. Kingston . . . often assisted her husband in his literary work . .
. and she herself undertook the
translation from the German of an edition of Swiss Family Robinson and from the French of several of the works
of Jules Verne”,[6] information which seems to have been
forgotten in the current Verne Renaissance.
The translations have a
certain flair and make for good reading, but they often are not too literal and
dates and times may get confused. Knowing as we do that Mrs. Kingston only
entered into the Verne translations out of financial necessity as did Lewis
Mercier, it is almost certain that Sampson Low was responsible for the deletion the entire portion of Mysterious Island Volume III dealing with the death of Captain Nemo
where Nemo was revealed as a freedom
fighter against the British occupation of India. The name changes were also
undoubtedly dictated by the editors; changing the hero’s name from “Smith” to
“Harding”. “Smith” was a name used by gypsies and not a suitable name for a
Victorian hero.
W.H.G.
Kingston died at his home Stormont, Willesden on the 5th of August 1880. Mrs.
Kingston died May 27, 1913, in the village of Hutten in Essex where she
resided. [Dictionary of National
Biography, 1920, 2004, Kingsford, 1947.]
The works
translated by Agnes Kinloch Kingston in her husband’s name are:
I. The Mysterious Island, Sampson Low et. al., 3 volumes: 1875, reprinted by
Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., New York, 1 volume: 1876
II. Michael Strogoff, Sampson
Low et al.: 1876, reprinted by Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., “revised by
Julius Chambers”: 1877
III. The Child of the Cavern; or Strange Doings Underground, Sampson Low
et al.: 1877
IV. The Begum’s Fortune; with an account of the Mutineers of
the Bounty, Sampson Low et al.: 1879,
reprinted by J. B. Lippincott: 1879
Agnes Kinloch Kingston, Agnes
Dundas Kingston
Agnes Dundas Kingston (1856 — 1886), the daughter of W.H.G. Kingston, was born in Blackheath,
Kent. In 1881 she was living with her mother, Agnes Kinloch Kingston, in a
household of 12 persons including three sons and two other daughters in the
family home Stormont, Willesden, Middlesex. With the publication of The Begum’s Fortune in November, 1879,
Sampson Low no doubt entered into an arrangement with W.H.G. Kingston for the
translation of The Steam House which appeared in French starting December, 1879.
With the death of W.H.G. Kingston in August of 1880 it was no longer possible
to continue the fiction of W.H.G. Kingston as translator, and Mrs. Kingston had
probably already completed part of the translation.
Sampson Low were no doubt
aware of Mrs. Kingston’s participation if not sole authorship of her
husband’s translations, and with their
usual cavalier attitude to the attachment of names of translators on their
books, agreed to continue the project under the name of Agnes Dundas Kingston,
her daughter. Mrs. Kingston could not publish under her own name, as that would
have raised immediate question as to the authorship of the previous
translations; in any event a wife was not supposed to work, but a daughter
could well serve as a useful nom de plume.
There is a footnote in Volume II of the Steam
House absolving the "translators" from any responsibility for
Verne's descriptions of the Sepoy rebellion. The use of the word
"translators" at a minimum indicates a collaborative effort of Mrs.
Kingston with her daughter.
The only published work
attributed to Agnes Dundas Kingston is the translation of La maison à vapeur when she was age 24. She died young at age 30.
Embarrassing sections relating to the British occupation of India have been
redacted or varnished over in this version but the Sepoy rebellion is covered
in full. The Verne translation is
I. The Demon of Cawnpore, pt 1 of The Steam House, Sampson Low et al.: 1880.
II. Tigers and Traitors, pt 2 of The Steam House, Sampson Low et al.: 1881
Emma Garrison
Emma Garrison (1833 — 1898) published numerous “Dime Novels” under the name of Emma
Garrison and her married name Emma Garrison Jones, but her Verne translations
were under the name of E. G. Walraven.
[The "E.G." obviously refers to "Emma Garrison", and the
"Walraven" perhaps a literary allusion to Poe's "Raven".
—NMW] She was born in the town of Garrisonville, Virginia, now a Washington,
D.C. commuter town just south of the Quantico Marine Corps Base, but until the
1950's a rural farming community in north Stafford County. She is the only
translator of Verne to have lived in Washington, D.C. The following
biographical extract is from The
House of Beadle and Adams and its dime and nickel novels; the story of a
vanished literature, by Albert Johannsen, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 3
vol., 1950-62.
{ . . . Emma Garrison was born in Garrisonville,
Virginia, December 25, 1833, a daughter of John R. (1804-1880) and Frances
Garrison (1803-1884). She spent her girlhood days in Garrisonville but later,
when she won a prize of $60 for a story published in The Dollar Newspaper, January 11, 1860, she was announced as
"an unknown author from Fredericksburg, Virginia." Apparently she did
not live there, for in the same periodical, October 24, 1860, she had a poem,
dated from Garrisonville. Her first serial, "Zaidee; or, The Ruby
Cross," was begun in the issue for September 12, 1860.
She went to Washington, D. C. in the early 1860's,
and while there met and married Nicholas W. Jones (December 9, 1833-December
26, 1919) some time late in 1862 or
early in 1863. She was writing voluminously about this time for Peterson's Magazine, The New York Ledger,
and the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper.
Some time afterwards she and her family returned to Garrisonville to live with
her aged parents, and they were still there in 1882, for in January of that
year, when she entered into a contract with Norman L. Munro to write only for The Family Story Paper for three years,
her address was Garrisonville. In explanation of the appearance of one of her
stories in a rival newspaper, she said that it was one which had been published
previously under a pseudonym. Neither the pseudonym, the name of the story, nor
the name of the rival publication was mentioned, but the pen name was
apparently "E. G. Walraven," the only nom de plume known to have been used by her.
After the death of Mrs. Jones' mother in 1884, she
removed to a suburb of Washington and lived there several years, continually
writing. Said Arthur Grissom in 1888, "Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
receives $10,000 annually from the Ledger,
and Mrs. Emma Garrison Jones and others are paid nearly as much by the
Munros."
In the early 1880's she removed to Martinsburg,
West Virginia, and thereafter made that her home. On February 2, 1898, while on
a visit to her brother, John R. Garrison, in Washington, D. C., she died and
was buried in the Congressional Cemetery beside her youngest son, Gwynn
(1869-1886). She was survived by her husband, one son, and three
daughters. . . . }
Garrison's translation of Michel Strogoff is a much more literal and complete translation than that of Kingston, which omits several portions of the descriptions and some difficult passages. It was first published starting March 4, 1876 in serial form in Frank Leslie's Chimney Corner.
Her Verne translations are:
I. *Michael
Strogoff, From Moscow to Irkoutsk. Frank Leslie: 1876
II. Adventures in the Solar World. Frank Leslie: 1877 (not located as of 2005)
Grace Virginia Lord
Grace Virginia Lord (?
— 1885) translated under the pen
name of Virginia Champlin. She wrote
or translated from the French seven books, starting with her Verne translation:
I. Tribulations of a Chinaman, Lee and Shepard, Boston: 1879
She contributed translations
to Potter’s American Monthly. Other
books and translations are:
Learning to Draw, or, the Story of a Young Designer, by Eug. E. Violet-le-Duc, New York: 1880
No. 13 Rue Marlot; form the
French of René du Pont-Just, Boston: 1880
Kings in Exile, by
Alphonse Daudet, Boston: 1880
Mademoiselle Bismark;
from the French of Henri Rochefort, New York: 1881
Numa Roumestan, by Alphonse
Daudet, Boston: 1882
Literature in the United States; from the French of Leo Quesnel, Potter’s American Monthly, Sep. 1882, in three parts, pp. 19, 129,
253
Shadowed by a Detective; or, the Woman in Wax, by Virginia Champlin, New York: 1885
William John Gordon
With the death of Kingston in 1880, Sampson
Low turned to a number of lesser known translators such as William John Gordon. Gordon was a prolific juvenile author, writing
over 200 books on all sorts of subjects: butterflies, railways, birds, grasses,
dictionaries etc. His literary career started with his Verne translations.
Probably his most popular book is Flags
of the World, Frederic Warne & Co.: 1915 which has been reprinted many
times. His Verne translations are:
I. The Giant Raft, Sampson
Low et al.: 1881-82.
II. Godfrey Morgan: A California Mystery, Sampson Low et al.: 1883.
III. ·The Floating Island, or the
Pearl of the Pacific, Sampson Low et al.: 1896
A selection of his other work
follows:
Foundry, Forge and Factory; with a chapter on the
centenary of the rotary press. /
Gordon, William John.-- 1890.
Every-day life on the railroad / by W. J. Gordon.-- [London] : The Religious Tract
Society, [189-?]
The horse-world of London / by W. J. Gordon.-- London : Religious Tract Society,
1893
The story of our railways / Gordon, W. J. (William John).-- London, [1896]
How London lives. The feeding, cleansing, lighting and
police of London with chapters on the Post Office and other institutions / Gordon, W. J. (William John).-- New ... ed.-- London,
[1897]
Mary de Hauteville
Mary de Hauteville
published several translations from the French in both England and New York
from 1876 to 1879. Her last published work is the Verne translation of Le rayon vert :
I. The Green Ray, Sampson
Low et al.: 1883.
Some of her other
translations are:
The Little King ...
Translated ... by Mary de Hauteville ... Illustrations by Emile Bayard..-- pp.
x. 212. ; 8o..-- London : Sampson, Low & Co., 1876.
My rambles in the new world / Biart, Lucien ; Hauteville, Mary de [Translator].--
London : Sampson Low, 1877
The Two Friends ...
Translated by Mary de Hauteville. / Biart, Lucien ; Hauteville, Mary de.-- pp.
vi. 253. ; 8o..-- London, 1879 : Sampson Low & Co., [1878].
The Serpent Charmer.
Translated from the French by M. de Hauteville.
With 68 engravings on wood by A. Marie. / Rousselet, Louis ; Hauteville,
Mary de ; Marie, Adrien.-- 8o..-- London, 1879.
James Cotterell
James Cotterell translated
French books for the publisher George
Munro in New York.
The Verne translations of James
Cotterell are:
I. The
Jangada, or 800 Leagues on the Amazon, Part 1, George Munro, New York:
1881.
II. The Steam House; or a trip across India, George Munro,. New York:
1881
III. The Jangada, or 800 Leagues on the Amazon, Part 2, George Munro,
New York: 1882.
IV. The Headstrong Turk, Part 1, George Munro, New York: 1883
V. The Headstrong Turk, Part 2, George Munro, New York: 1883
Other translations of James
Cotterell are:
Sonia
Samuel Brohl and Co.,
by Victor Cherbuliez, George Munro, New York: 1878; available on Project
Gutenberg Gutenberg.
Jeremiah C. Curtin
He campaigned extensively for
James G. Blaine in the election of 1884 in which Grover Cleveland was elected.
.
He died[7]
on Tuesday, July 22, 1913.
The translations of
Jeremiah C. Curtin are:
I. An American Robinson Crusoe, New York, Redpath’s Weekly: 1883
II. The Headstrong Turk,
New York, Redpath’s Weekly: 1883
George W. Hanah
The translation of George W.
Hannah is:
I. Mathias Sandorf, George Munro, New York: 1885, and Sampson Low et
al.: 1886.
Laura E. Kendall
The translations of Laura
Kendall are:
I. Ticket No. 9672, Vol 1.,
George Munro, New York: July, 1886
II. Ticket No. 9672, Vol 2., George Munro, New York: November, 1886
III. Texar’s Vemgeance, George Munro, New York: 1887
She translated many other
works, including:
The Return of the Princess, a Novel by Jaques Vincent, New York: 1880
Nouma Roumestan, by
Alphonse Daudet, New York: 1881
Xenie’s Inheritance;
from the French of H. Gréville, Philadelphia: 1881
A Strange Marriage: a Story of Italian Life, by L. Gualdo, New York: 1881
A Child of Israel; from the
French of Edouard Cadol, Philadelphia: 1881
Which? or Between Two Women; from the French of Ernest Daudet, Phila.: 1887
Marie Rose, by F.
Bolagobey, New York: 1887
Alphonse E. Estoclet
Alphonse
E. Estoclet was born circa 1850[8] in
France. He is found in the 1881 English Census as schoolmaster of St. Mary's
College, Camberwell, a borough of London.
The members of his family included his wife Anne, Joseph J., Alphonse
D., and his niece Annette Fenelon. It
was she who probably answered the census taker's queries as the members were
referred to in familiar terms; namely Nannie Estoclet, Joey Estoclet and Alphy
Estoclet. Alphonse, the elder, had
probably spent some time in Ireland before coming to England. His wife Anne was born circa 1846 in Tullow, Carlow County, Ireland. His son, Joseph J., was born in Palmerstown,
Dublin County, Ireland circa 1869,
suggesting that he married about 1868.
His
youngest son, Alphonse David, was born February 19, 1875 in Peckham, Surrey,
England, just outside of Camberwell.
During
the latter part of 1884, his wife Anne died.
In that same year he published an English translation of Caesar's Gallic War intended as a school
reference book.
Sometime
in 1890, Estoclet emigrated to the US.
He is
next found in the 1900 US Census living on Warrington Avenue, Philadelphia,
with a new wife and child. The wife's
name was Millie Nelson and his son was Emile Estoclet, born July 28, 1897. Alphonse's occupation was given as an
editor. It is not certain for which
newspaper he may have been an editor. He
was certainly in the Philadelphia area ca.
1895, as he was the editor and publisher of a periodical called "The Searcher,
an American 'notes and queries'" which lasted from October 15, 1895 till
Dec. 1, 1896.
In the
1910 US Census, he is next found living across from Philadelphia in Camden, NJ,
where his son Joseph was also an editor for a local newspaper. An article in the New York Times Book Review
(July 30, 1910, p. 10) refers to him as an editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer.
With
regard to the younger Alphonse Estoclet, he served for a period of about six
months in the Spanish American War, was
connected later with the theatre and lived in Pennsylvania most of his
life. He died in Farmingdale, Long
Island, New York. As a veteran, he was
buried in the Long Island National Cemetery.
At this point, it is not known when the elder
Alphonse Estoclet died, but in 1929, his wife, Millie, who was almost 30 years
younger than he, had applied for a marriage license, suggesting that Alphonse
E. Estoclet had passed on sometime in the 1920s.[9]
The Verne translations of
Alphonse Estoclet are:
I. César Cascabel, Cassel,
New York: 1890
II. Mistress Branican, Cassel,
New York: 1891
He authored and translated
several other works, including:
Gaii Julii Caesaris de bello
gallico commentariorum lib. I. With a literal translation, a set of
exercises…, 8vo, 139 pp., [trans.] by Alphonse Estoclet … London: W. Stewart
& Co., 1884.
Bras d'acier; or, On the
gold-path in '60; adapted from the French of
Alfred de Bréhat [pseud. of Alfred Guézenec], [trans.] by Adolphe
Estoclet. New York: Cassell Publishing
Co. [©1901]
Dante and the word
"luciccia", by Alphonse Estoclet, 1879.
[no publication data]
Frances Sarah Johnston
As the interest in Verne
declined in the 1880’s, Sampson Low turned to a number of anonymous
translators, and even omitted publishing several books entirely, finally
returning to a well known author with Frances
Sarah Johnston (1830-1908) who published under her married name of “Mrs. Cashel Hoey”. She was born 14 Feb
1830 in Bushy Park, Dublin and was one of the eight children of Charles Bolton
Johnston, secretary and registrar of the Mount Jerome cemetery. At age 16 she
married Adam Murray Stewart who died in 1855; there were two daughters of the
marriage. In 1853 she began to contribute reviews and articles on art to Dublin
papers and periodicals. Thenceforth until her death she was continuously
occupied in journalism, novel-writing or translation. She came to London with
an introduction to Thackeray and in 1858 converted to Catholicism and married
John Cashel Hoey (1828-1893), C.M.G., a Knight of Malta and a well-known Dublin
journalist and later a prominent lawyer.
Mrs. Hoey wrote in all 16
novels. She also translated twenty-seven works from the French and Italian.
They include memoirs, travels, and novels. She was granted a civil list pension
of £50 in 1892 and died on 8 July 1908 at Beccles, Suffolk; she was buried in
the churchyard of the Benedictine church at Little Malvern, Worcestershire. [Dictionary of National Biography, 1920].
Her translations of Verne are:
I. For the Flag, Sampson
Low et al.: 1897
II. An Antarctic Mystery, Sampson Low et al.: 1898
Some of her other
translations are:
Hope Cranstoun Metcalfe
The last person to translate
Verne for Sampson Low was Hope Cranstoun
Metcalfe (1866 - 1939) He was born in the Straits Settlements, Penang,
Malaya, 22 Feb 1866, son of Julia R. (Shaw) Metcalfe and Ernest Metcalfe, A Major in the Madras Army who died
suddenly just after Cranstoun Metcalfe
was born.
Julia Metcalfe, a widow, was
living with her two sons and a daughter in Chelsea, London in 1861 receiving a
pension from the India Office. HCM was one of
four children but his childhood was one that was filled with sadness and
constant moving around. After losing his sister and brother to disease after
living four years in Kensington, London, his mother removed the family away to
Devon in the south-west corner of England. [Cholera, tuberculosis, and typhoid
fever were common in the cities of Victorian England.—NMW] There she remarried
a surgeon, Henry Norris, and they had a son Hugh N. Norris.
Metcalfe attended the Honiton Grammar School in Honiton,
Devon, and later entered Cambridge University where he matriculated Michelmas
term in Corpus Christi College, 1884, however he never received a degree. The
reasons for this are not clear; but it may have been a trip to
France that deterred him from gaining a degree in England. He lived in that
country for over a year it seems, as he records in one of his books - ‘The
Lowly Estate", in any event obtaining a facility in the French language
useful later on.
Returning to England he settled in Putney where he met his first wife, (Bridget Sullivan
(?) in 1889) with a son, Jack Cranstoun Metcalfe born in 1892. His wife died after just two years of marriage due to illness. He also lost an uncle, a
cousin and his mother around this period of time (1891-94).
In 1894 he married Edith
Kirkpatrick, who too was an author, at St. Luke’s
Church, Kensington (the church where Charles Dickens married). He had
five children: Edith Mary b. in 1894,
possibly in France; Frances Hope Metcalfe b. 1895; Sylvia Margaret Metcalfe
b. 1897; Helen Julia Katharine Metcalfe b. 1907;
and later in 1910 the last child Violet Kerr Metcalfe who was born in the
family’s country home in Halstead, Essex. Another child, Kathleen Cranstoun
Metcalfe died in infancy (1896).
In 1901 he was living back in
his childhood borough of Kensington and seems to have had his office at the Author’s Club, and listed his occupation as “Private
Secretary and Author”. His serious publishing career started in 1902 with the
publication of a novel, Splendid
Mourning”. His first translation was The
Daughters of Louis XV : (mesdames de France) tr. from the French of Casimir
Stryienski, in 1912. His most famous work is Peeresses of the Stage ... With twenty-four portraits, 1913, “About
actresses, who have married peers of the realm, or sons of peers of the realm.”
In 1915 he translated the first French pulp fiction work, Fantômas by Pierre
Souvestre and Marcel Allain — “Fantômas
is the Lord of Terror, the Genius of Evil, the arch-criminal anti-hero of a series
of 32 pre-WWI French thrillers.” Metcalfe’s Verne translations are:
I. Master of the World, Sampson
Low et al.: 1914
II. Their Island Home, Sampson Low et al.: 1923, G. Howard Watt, New
York: 1923
III. Castaways of the Flag,
Sampson Low et al.: 1923, G. Howard Watt, New York: 1923
IV. Lighthouse at the End of the World, Sampson Low et al.: 1923, G.
Howard Watt, New York: 1924
Some of his other
translations and books are:
His last published work was
in 1927, but he lived on until 1939,
dying in that year in the family home, 137 Redcliffe Square, Kensington. He is buried with Edith at Gunnersbury Cemetery in West
London. [10]
One of
Metcalfe’s antecedents married into royal descent in the 17th century, and he
is listed in The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal, The
Mortimer Percy Volume, p.59 (1895 abt.)
And so sometime in 1939 the
last living Sampson Low translator and contemporary of Jules Verne departed
this earth. [11]
Appendix I. Writings of Anne
Toppan Wilbur
[1] Private communication from Victor Berch, on the U.S. Census of 1860 and 1880
[2] Victor Berch, private communication
[3] See Kingston, infra.
[4] Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford: 2004 p. 728
[5] The Life, Work, and Influence of W. H. G. Kingston, Ryerson Press, Toronto: 1947.
[6] The Times, London, May 28, 1913.
[7] New York Times, July 24, 1913.
[8] U.S. Census, 1900
[9] Victor Berch, private communication for this section
[10] Family information: xxxx, private communication.
[11] The dates for William John Gordon are yet to be determined.