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Translation Comparisons

Ever since the confusion of tongues at Babel, translation has been a necessary part of communication. Truly understanding the writings of other peoples and cultures is difficult work, and scholars have spent millenia refining their skills. While in recent years, AI seems to making parts of this easier, we're not quite ready to trust it—especially for literature, considering the nuances required.

The Bible is certainly the most commonly translated book in the world, with dozens of English translations alone, but editions in most of the world's languages also. For a project of such immensity and importance, modern translations usually involve a panel of scholars and linguists. But it wasn't always that way. Although the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) was crafted by dozens of scholars in the 2nd & 3rd centuries, around 382 A.D., St. Jerome first reworked the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into Latin, crafting the Vulgate, which was the standard translation of the Roman Catholic Church for a thousand years. Later, as churchmen desired to hear the word in their own tongues, men like John Wycliffe (England, 1382), Martin Luther (Germany, 1522-34 ), William Tyndale (England, 1525-35), and Miles Coverdale (also England, 1535) did the work to translate the Scriptures into the common tongues of their period. That work continues today and has resulted in many favorite versions over the years: the KJV, NASB, NKJV, ESV, NIV, RSV...just to name a few.

This probably seems like an unnecessary tangent in an introduction to literature comparisons, but there is a point. When studying English translations, scholars often use what is called an interlinear Bible, which intersperses lines of original language with lines of the language of which they are more accustomed. Going further, some people use a parallel Bible, which allows them to compare multiple versions of the same text side-by-side. These Classic Comparison pages are an attempt to offer you the same thing for passages of classic lit. Almost all of these pages have two parts: 1) the introduction, which will give some background on the book and summarize the major differences between editions, and 2) the parallel comparison page, which usually will offer 3-6 passages from all the translators we could feasibly add (we continue to update as we can). While that might be extreme thing to attempt for full novels, we think it's really helpful for getting the flavor of translations. 

Please let us know if you have questions, or would like to suggest other translations! 

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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
by Jules Verne, Translated by Lewis Page Mercier, edited by Allen Grove
from Chartwell Books
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Windermere Readers #19
by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen with a frontispiece by Milo Winter
1956 printing from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Adventures of Don Quixote
Dover Children's Thrift Classics
by Argentina Palacios
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Adapted or Abridged (Location: SER-ABR)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.L. Rosenthal, illustrated by Troy Howell
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by Carol Della Chiesa, illustrated by Attilio Mussino
from Giunti Editore
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Ulysses
by Bernard Evslin
from Scholastic Inc.
Greek Mythology for 4th-6th grade
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Authoress of the Odyssey
by Samuel Butler, introduction by David Grene
from University of Chicago
for 8th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Beowulf
by Anonymous (translation by Frederick Rebsamen)
from HarperCollins
Medieval Poetic Epic for 8th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$8.49 $4.80 (3 in stock)
Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Douglas Wilson
from Canon Press
for 7th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$11.90 $6.40 (1 in stock)
Beowulf (retold)
by Michael Morpurgo
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Beowulf the Warrior
by Ian Serraillier
from Bethlehem Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.16 $5.60 (1 in stock)
Beowulf the Warrior - Student Guide
by David M. Wright
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 8th-9th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$11.86 $8.50 (1 in stock)
Boys' and Girls' Herodotus
by John S. White
Facsimile Edition from Kessinger Publishing
Ancient History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Canterbury Quintet
by Geoffrey Chaucer
from Little Leaf Press
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer (edited by Kolve V.A. & Glending Olson)
2nd edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 9th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$11.94 $8.50 (1 in stock)
Canterbury Tales - Student Guide
by Geoffrey Chaucer
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$11.86 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Canterbury Tales - Teacher Guide
by Geoffrey Chaucer
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$11.86 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio (adapted)
by Marianna Mayer (translator and adapter), illustrated by Gerald McDermott
from Four Winds Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$9.34 $4.80 (3 in stock)
Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels
by Alexander Heidel
from University of Chicago
for Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Gilgamesh the Hero
by Geraldine McCaughrean
from Eerdmans
for 4th-8th grade
$17.00 $9.60 (1 in stock)
Grendel
by John Gardner
from Vintage Classics
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Histories
Penguin Classics
by Herodotus (translation by Robin Waterfield)
from Oxford University
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$9.31 $4.80 (1 in stock)
In Search of a Homeland
by Penelope Lively & Ian Andrew
from Delacorte Press
Picture Book/Mythology for 4th-8th grade
$17.50 (1 in stock)
Inferno
by Dante Alighieri, translated by John Ciardi
from Signet Classics
for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Odyssey (retold)
by Barbara Leonie Picard
from Oxford University
for 3rd-4th grade
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Odyssey - Instructional DVDs
by Homer (translation by Samuel Butler), lectures by Sean Brooks
from Memoria Press
for 9th-Adult
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$38.50 (1 in stock)
Odyssey - MP Teacher Book
by Stephan Musick
from Memoria Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$15.60 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Omnibus IV - Text with CD-ROM (old)
by Gene Edward Veith, Doug Wilson & G. Tyler Fischer
2nd edition from Veritas Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Veritas Press Omnibus (old editions) (Location: OHIS-OMN)
$60.00 (1 in stock)
Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M. A. Murray and illustrated by Roberto Innocenti
from Creative Editions
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Pinocchio (adapted)
by Freya Littledale
from Schola Publications, Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Pinocchio / Adventures of Robin Hood
by C. Collodi, retold by Allen Chaffee and illustrated by Lois Lenski; Robin Hood retold by Eleanor Graham Vance and illustrated by Jay Hyde Barnum
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Pinocchio's Quest
by Robert Rogland
from Christian Liberty Press
for 6th grade
in CLP Phonics & Reading (Location: REA-CLP)
$14.24 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Selected Canterbury Tales
Dover Thrift Editions
by Geoffrey Chaucer (edited by J. U. Nicolson)
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$5.95 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
by Anonymous, translated by Jessie Weston
2nd edition from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$4.21 $2.80 (2 in stock)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
by Anonymous, translated by Burton Raffel
Reprint from Signet Classics
for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$6.76 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Student Guide
by David M. Wright
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 9th grade
in Memoria Press Literature & Poetry (Location: LITSG-MP)
$11.86 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Babar / Heidi
by Jean de Brunhoff, translated by Merle S. Haas, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, adapted by Florence Hayes and illustrated by Erika Weihs
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Waiting for Odysseus
by Clemence McLaren
from Simon Pulse
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
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