Hello everybody,
After upgrading the spelling of Rebilius Crūsō, I’m looking at the other versions of Robinson Crusoe in Latin. And there are many:
Robinson Secundus (1785) by Philipp Julius Lieberkühn. Based on the German version.
Robinson Crusoeus (1809) by François-Joseph Goffaux. Based on the German version (with cuts).
Robinsonius Minor (1828) by Johann Friedrich Gottlieb Nagel. Based on the German version.
Rebilius Cruso (1884) by Francis William Newman. Full rewriting from the base idea.
Vita discriminaque Robinsonis Crusoei (1928) by Arcadius Avellanus. Starts as a translation and goes on as a rewriting.
Interesting enough, there does not seem to be any full translation of the original work.
Did you read any of these? How is the Latin?
By the way, I couldn’t find any online scan (nor, of course any physical copy) of Avellanus’ version. Do you know anything about it?
Avellanus’ version is based on Goffaux’s, at least that’s how he advertised it. The first part in book form can be found at archive.org. The remaining chapters can be read in various issues of Praeco Latinus.
There is another rewriting of Goffaux by Barnett: https://archive.org/details/storyrobinsoncr00campgoog/page/n17/mode/1up.
I can’t really comment on the quality of the Latin. I read Newman, as well as tiny bits of the other versions, but that was a long time ago. I was still a slow reader then and I remember them somewhat fondly for providing me with level-appropriate and interesting enough reading material.
You post makes me interested in picking them up again and actually read the whole thing.
Interesting… There are a few references about “Vita discriminaque Robinsonis Crusoei” here and there, which is totally different from the version you mention. It seems like Avellanus started by adding notes and fixing the Goffeaux version, and later made his own version.
Avellanus made two editions of this book:
ROBINSON CRUSOEUS, sermone Anglico scripsit Daniel Defoe, Latinitate donavit F. J. Goffaux, nunc demum in America primum recensuit, notas aliquot adiecit atque in lucem edidit Arcadius Avellanus, Hungarus, Philadelphiae 1896.
VITA DISCRIMINAQUE ROBINSONIS CRUSOEI; ab auctore Daniele De Foe, Anglo; primam fabulae partem, usque ad Crusoei adventum in insulam, ex Anglico in Latinum vertit, illinc autem ad finem usque novam finxit et Latine perscripsit Arcadius Avellanus, New York City [?].
I have the Newman version publ. 1834, as an epub on my site, plus the first ten chapters of the Goffaux, publ. 1809, which has a lot more on Crusoe’s early life.
If anyone can point me towards reasonably clean digital versions (not photo pdf or unintelligible digital versions as on internet archive) I will happily add them.
ie I am happy to read through making a couple of corrections every hundred words, but not much more.
Hello,
Various Latin ebooks are available on the Project Gutenberg, uploaded by me or other people. They all have been carefully proofread.
I also started to include modernized versions with better spelling and macrons