I picked up a new translation of Le Petit Prince while in Berlin and I decided, finally, to write a post about all of my foreign editions. I have set up a display at work to show all of them, where I ask the public to identify the languages, or regional languages, they have been translated into. See the display on the library’s social media links here:
If I can still remember I have indicated where I acquired each edition.
Here’s where it all started:
French
French (German edition for French instruction)
English
Standard German. Purchased in Berlin in 2010.
Berlinisch, also known as Berlinerisch, the dialect of German spoken in Berlin. Purchased ten days ago at Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus, Berlin.
Bärndütsch, the dialect of German spoken in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. Purchased at Il Palantin, the only Romansch bookstore in Switzerland.
Dutch. Purchased in Amsterdam.
Norwegian. Purchased in Oslo.
Swedish. Purchased in Stockholm.
Danish. Purchased in Copenhagen (not during this latest trip).
Lëtzebuergesch, or Luxembourgish. Purchased at Ernster bookstore in Luxembourg City.
Faroese. A 1980 paperback edition which is stained on the edges and the back. I ordered it new (but it certainly didn’t look new) from a retail bookstore in the Faroes before I visited the islands for the first time in 2003. I did not see it for sale in the Faroes during this most recent trip.
Icelandic. Purchased at Eymundsson bookstore in Reykjavík.
Latin. Purchased at the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Rumantsch Grischun or standard Romansch. Purchased at Maggi bookstore in Ilanz ( = Glion), Switzerland.
The Surmiran idiom of Romansch. Purchased at Schoenhof’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Italian. Purchased in the Italian canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
Maltese. Purchased by my friend Glenn Mosher during his trip to Malta.
Spanish. This is a Cuban imprint so it could be in Cubano. This was an unwanted library donation.
Slovak. Another unwanted library donation.
Finnish. Purchased at Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, Helsinki.
Tunturi Sami (also known as Northern Sami or Fell Sami). I must have purchased this while in Lappi, or Lapland.
Inari Sami
Breton. Found mixed in with the French juvenile books at Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, Helsinki.
Russian. Purchased in Tallinn.
Estonian. Perhaps my most valuable edition is this 1960 paperback which I purchased in Tallinn.
Afrikaans. Purchased at Exclusive Books in Cape Town.
Xhosa. Purchased at Clarke’s Bookshop in Cape Town.
As I wrote in an earlier post, I could go on collecting translations for the rest of my life but restrict the versions I collect to the following criteria:
1) Translations in languages I speak.
2) Translations in languages I am interested in or would like to learn.
3) Translations in languages spoken in places I have visited.
4) Translations that have otherwise come my way at no charge to my wallet.