Swiss version of Swiss Family Robinson?

[jackm8]

Give me as many versions of this book in as many languages as possible. My German is passable at best, but I'm willing to have a go at it for curiosities’ sake.

I reread this recently in English translation. It differed quite a bit from my memory of the book I read in my youth. It was a Slovene translation, still produced in the communist era, so all the Christian themes were purged. I was aware of this. Rereading it in English was a plausible alternative, as my German is very slow, and I just wanted to have some fun rereading a book that I loved in my youth, expecting to find a different aspect to it. But as I looked into it further, I saw that English translations are far from the original as well. Searching for the reasons behind this, I fell into a rabbit hole of translation business of the past.

As far as I know, It was first published in German language. It was based on morality stories written by Johann David Wyss for his children. One of his sons, Johann Rudolf Wyss, at a much later date put it together and published it in two volumes in 1812-1813. Then it was translated into French by Isabelle de Montolieu. This version was greatly expanded from the original, with whole sections added to it, totalling five volumes. In one foreword of English translation, (a lot of current English language e-books follow this version) it is explained that author died and his son authorised Isabelle to finish it, but this explanation makes little sense.

Introduction to that edition:

Spoiler:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1170...-h/11703-h.htm

PREFACE.

Many years ago, an English translation of the first part of this charming tale appeared; and few books have obtained such deserved popularity. The gradual progress of the family from utter destitution and misery, to happiness and abundance, arising from their own labour, perseverance, and obedience, together with the effect produced on the different characters of the sons by the stirring adventures they met with, created a deep and absorbing interest. Every young reader patronized either the noble Fritz, the studious Ernest, or the generous Jack, and regarded him as a familiar personal acquaintance. The book had but one defect—the death of the talented author left it unfinished, and every reader regretted its abrupt termination.

This conclusion was happily supplied by one of the most accomplished and elegant writers of her day, the Baroness de Montolieu; and, sanctioned and approved by the son of the lamented author, the entire work was published in France, and has for many years held a distinguished rank in the juvenile libraries there. For the gratification of a little family circle, this now appears in English; and as, on examining the first part in the original, it was found, that “some new discoveries might be made,” it was thought best to re-translate it, subduing the tone of the whole to English taste. The unanimous voices of the beloved circle, for whom the pleasant task was undertaken, have pronounced the result to be eminently successful, and they generously wish, that the whole of the juvenile public of England should share in their satisfaction, and possess a complete Swiss Robinson.

Foreword to another version at Project Gutenberg edition gives a different story:

Spoiler:

https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub...36-images.html

Foreword

No unabridged edition of <Swiss Family Robinson> exists in English. Indeed, the book has been rewritten so many times, by so many editors, that it can legitimately be said that that no complete edition of the book exists in <any> language.

Johann David Wyss, a Swiss pastor, originally wrote this book to entertain and instruct his four sons. Years later, his son Johann (or Jean—accounts differ) Rudolf Wyss, by then a professor of philosophy, persuaded his father to allow him to complete and edit the unfinished manuscript. It was published in two volumes in Zurich in 1812-1813.

Its French translator, Mme de Montholieu, obtained permission to greatly enlarge the book. It was published in five volumes from 1824 through 1826. The first English edition, abridged, was published in 1814; it was followed by several other English translations of varying quality. In 1849 W. H. G. Kingston re-translated, and greatly abridged, Mme. De Montholieu's version. Most English versions are based on Kingston's abridged version.

Despite a vast number of amusing errors in flora and fauna, the book has entertained, and warmed the hearts of, many generations. However, most modern editions omit an incredible amount even of Kingston's translation by making small cuttings here and there, some of them maddeningly inept. The Editor's Cut edition from Pink Tree Press has been based on, and compared with, no fewer than five previous editions, all of them out of copyright. Most, though not all, of the cuttings have been restored. The material that continues to be omitted is of little imaginable interest to anyone other than a scholar of nineteenth century literature...

Anne Wingate, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Pink Tree Press

While this article paints a fuller picture:

https://blogs.bl.uk/european/2018/01...-robinson.html

Spoiler:

Translations soon followed and further altered the original tale. The first English and French translations (1814 and 1813 respectively) both made some changes to the sequence of events and chapter numbering, but the French translator, Isabelle de Montolieu, went further still. When, over a decade after the first German edition, a promised continuation had not yet appeared, she wrote her own, based on brief notes provided by Johann Rudolf Wyss and published in 1824. Wyss’s own last two volumes appeared in 1826-7, but Montolieu’s continuation served as a basis for several other translations, including the most successful 19th-century English version, ascribed to the bestselling children’s author W.H.G. Kingston but actually the work of his wife Agnes.

Other changes were made to the book as time went on. Chapters were merged, split or rearranged, new adventures and characters were added, and the conclusion varied in different versions and translations. Names were often changed in translation, with different translators into the same language sometimes using different variants. There have been many retellings and abridgments, picture-book and comic-strip versions, ...

David Wyss was still alive when first German edition was published, he died in 1818, and his son and initial editor, Johann Rudolf Wyss, later published his own continuation of the story. As I understand it, the book became popular, and it was a case of a fight between two parties on how to profit more from it. The initial, two volumes, version was finished, but it left room for continuation. So both Johann Rudolf Wyss and Isabelle de Montolieu wrote their own successors. English translators preferred Isabelle de Montolieu, but on top of going through two languages already, they abridged it extensively as well. It's a bit overwhelming to consider how the initial word fared, with Isabelle extending the work in the first place, and English translators cutting after her.

Gutenberg foreword by Anne Wingate mentions that there's no unabridged English version, I'm not looking for a full picture, my curiosity is directed at changes, and reasons for them. The communist version is simple, purge God. French version has family speaking French as opposed to German. In Swiss, father is a pastor. Then there are Disney versions that follow the story from their 1960 film adaptation, and are abridged almost to the level of picture books.

[Doitsu]

It's available on MR.