How to work in German when you can’t read German?

By Jacqui Reid-Walsh and Colette Slagle

During our latest excursion to Penn State Special Collections we spent some time comparing the two Metamorphosis turn-up books, both published by G.S. Peters in Harrisburg.  The 1831 version (located at the Bodleian Library) is published in English and the 1833 version (located at Penn State Libraries) is published in German. The two are very similar visually, particularly in terms of the images used.  We presumed the 1833 version is a translation of the first partly because the date 1831 is left in the lower right of the sampler border under the skeleton.

1833 German version with 1831 date in sampler border (Photo Courtesy of Special Collections, Penn State Libraries)

Although the format and images of the two versions are quite similar, the script is strikingly different—the 1833 German version is in blackletter. The note to the reader is present in both (and basically the same in content), but differs slightly in appearance.  For example, there are no italics in the German version of the note to the reader due to its blackletter script.

Note to the reader 1831 English version (Photo Courtesy of Bodleian Library, Oxford Dep. f.135)

Note to the reader in 1833 German version (Photo Courtesy of Special Collections, Penn State Libraries)

We also noticed that the last set of verses in the English version (no 21) is absent in the German version. Instead, the poem ends with the set of verses numbered 20, and an additional poem is included in place of number 21. Since neither of us is versed in German, we referenced the loose German translation of the text located on the Learning as Play website.  The poem included in place of the last set of verses is titled “Praise of the Peasant,” and tells an entirely different story about honoring peasants for their labor—quite different from the Fall of Man!

“Praise of the Peasant” poem in 1833 German version (Photo Courtesy of Special Collections, Penn State Libraries)

We then went through the German translation and compared it to the English version. The core verses (numbered 1-12) appear basically the same, but in the second extended poem (numbered 13-21 or 20, depending on the version) there are some notable differences.  While the trajectory of the story is similar, the plot speeds up a bit in the 1833 German version due to the omission of the last set of verses (no 21).  This begins with set of verses numbered 14, and as we read through both versions of the text side by side from that point on, we noticed that the German version seemed to be about one set of verses ahead of the English version.  For example, while the set of verses numbered 14 describes Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the set of verses numbered 14 in the German version details God’s warning to Adam not to eat the fruit which is not described in the 1831 English version until number 15.

14. In happy Eden see them plac’d,

Who stood or fell for all our race ;

In a sweet bow’r, compos’d of love,

This happy pair might safely rove.

 

There was no curse upon the ground,

Nor changing grief there to be found :

There nothing could their joys control,

Nor mar the pleasures of the soul.

1831 English version (Bodleian Library, Oxford Dep. f.135)

 

14. Adam, you shall not eat
Of this fruit, listen,
If you forget this now,
You will be a dead man ;
Death will rightfully struck him
Who disdains my word,
As well as his race,
Adam, consider this well.

1833 loose translation of German version (Special Collections, Penn State Libraries)

 

15. This land they freely might possess,

And live in joy and happiness :

Adam was lord of all the land,

Made by the great all-forming hand,

 

Eat, said the Lord, of all you see,

Except one interdicted tree ;

And on this truth you may rely,

You may not eat that lest you die.

1831 English version (Bodleian Library, Oxford Dep. f.135)

Set of verses numbered 14 and 15, 1831 English version (Photo Courtesy of Bodleian Library, Oxford Dep. f.135)

Set of verses numbered 14, 1833 German version (Photo Courtesy of Special Collections, Penn State Libraries)

Other than learning German, we are interested in learning more about the relationship between the English and German versions going forward.  In particular, we are planning to explore in more detail other versions of Metamorphosis in English and German published by G. S. Peters in Harrisburg.