Here's what I mean: I know that a handful of well-known works have been translated into Esperanto, such as The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, Murder on the Orient Express, Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol, The Alchemist, Jane Eyre, the Bible and, unofficially, Harry Potter.

Does anyone know anything about how these works came to be published? For instance, who did these translations? For those titles still under copyright, how was permission obtained? Did they sell many copies? Have any of them been translated more than once?

And so on.

I'm just curious. As an Agatha Christie fan, for instance, I'd love to know how MOTOE came to be. Same goes for Tolkien's stuff. And as a reader of the Bible, any information on that would also be very interesting.

I'm not sure that Harry Potter was translated into Eo (=Esperanto).

Tolkien's books were translated by the really famous author William Auld.

There are two translations of Alice in Wonderland. (https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_aventuroj_de_Alic...) :
One of Elfric Leofwin Kearney and another one of Donald Broadribb.

Murder on the Orient Express was apparently translated by someone called "ETULO", according to this pdf that I found on Wikipedia : http://web.archive.org/web/20040514124141/http://m...

The Alchemist was translated into Eo by a brazilian esperantist: C.Valle.

It's Martyn Wescott that translated A Christmas Carol.

The bible was translated plural times into Eo. You can see more informations here: https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperantaj_tradukoj_...

Eventually don't forget that there is a real litterature in Esperanto, not only translations. And there are plural authors that write books for beginners. I'm thinking of Claude Piron.

Zam_franca:I'm not sure that Harry Potter was translated into Eo (=Esperanto).

https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments...

There's also a discussion of it here:

https://lernu.net/forumo/temo/1059

Zam_franca:Tolkien's books were translated by the really famous author William Auld.

I don't understand why I can't find a copy of the trilogy anywhere. It seems like if any title would constantly stay in print, it would be this one. Seems like it would be a prestige title for the Esperanto community.

Zam_franca:Murder on the Orient Express was apparently translated by someone called "ETULO", according to this pdf that I found on Wikipedia : http://web.archive.org/web/20040514124141/http://m...

I really would like to know how this translation came about in the first place. Apparently I can buy a printed copy of it right now if I want to:

https://www.abebooks.com/Murdo-Orieta-Ekspreso-Mur...

But it seems to be in only decent condition and it also would cost me about $50 after shipping.

Zam_franca:The Alchemist was translated into Eo by a brazilian esperantist: C.Valle.

Like LOTR I can't find this available for sale anywhere. Again, this seems like the kind of title that would always be in print and easy to find.

Zam_franca:It's Martyn Wescott that translated A Christmas Carol.

Can't say I'm acquainted with him. But that is an excellent book and a great title to have an Esperanto translation of. This would deserves a very thoughtful illustrated printing, using the finest materials.

Zam_franca:The bible was translated plural times into EO. You can see more informations here: https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperantaj_tradukoj_...

Thanks. I am going to do my best to read through this. It will probably take me about two days LOL, since I'm going to have to look 90% of the words up in the dictionary. (Yes, I know I can run it through Google Translate but that defeats the purpose of learning the language.)

I did find an English page with what I assume is a lot of the same info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_translations_i...

This is interesting. I actually found a copy of the Kava Pech edition on eBay and purchased it:

https://tinyurl.com/wsgoyoy

As you can see, it was not cheap. I had to think hard about clicking the purchase button. I know I sound like a broken record saying this, but this also sounds like a book that would be easy to find and relatively cheap to purchase. It seems like many of the most well-known Esperanto books are actually out of print and hard to track down.

I wonder if Berveling will ever finish his New Testament translation and then perhaps a new edition will be issued with his New Testament and Zamenhof's Old Testament. As far as I can tell, right now, there is not actually an EO Bible currently in print.

https://katalogo.uea.org/katalogo.php?inf=9753 < Here you can get The Alchimist in Eo. In fact I think I'm going to buy it too when I'll be sure that UEA can deliver books (because of the current crisis I don't think it can do this right now).

Except for Auld, I actually know nothing about the authors of those translations! But most of them are in Vikipedio. You only have to google there name, and maybe 'vikipedio', and you will certainly find more about them.

About LOTR I don't know too why it isn't available on Amazon or on katalogo.uea.org. I searched on katalogo.uea.org: it does exist, but it is no more available.
Finally I made some researches on La Ondo de Esperanto, and I've found the books that they sell, included La Majstro de l' ringoj. You can get it here: http://esperanto-ondo.ru/Prezlist.htm . Finding it was epic!
However, it is going to cost you a lot in my opinion!
Also, you can purchase the Hobbit in Eo on Amazon. I think it is called "La Hobito, aŭ tien kaj reen".
It is certainly cheaper if you purchase it on katalogo.uea.org : https://katalogo.uea.org/katalogo.php?inf=6363

PrimeMinisterK:

Sur la unua paĝo de "La Alkemiisto", mi legas :
Kopirajto 1988, Paulo Coehlo (de la originalo)
Kopirajto 2007, Carlos Valle (de la traduko)
Esperanta traduko kun ĝentila permeso de la aŭtoro

I purchased this book last september, from the catalog of the Esperanto association of my country (Esperanto-France - the catalog is just a pdf file, "google" may not see it).
Maybe you can look in the catalog of the association of your country.

I noticed that Esperanto books on Amazon have sometimes extravagant prices. As Zam suggested, it is better to start searches in the catalogs of the Esperanto associations.

Zam_franca:https://katalogo.uea.org/katalogo.php?inf=9753 < Here you can get The Alchimist in Eo. In fact I think I'm going to buy it too when I'll be sure that UEA can deliver books (because of the current crisis I don't think it can do this right now).

Hmm, weird. Seems I just looked at that yesterday and it said the title was not available.

Zam_franca:About LOTR I don't know too why it isn't available on Amazon or on katalogo.uea.org. I searched on katalogo.uea.org: it does exist, but it is no more available.
Finally I made some researches on La Ondo de Esperanto, and I've found the books that they sell, included La Majstro de l' ringoj. You can get it here: http://esperanto-ondo.ru/Prezlist.htm . Finding it was epic!

If I'm looking at it correctly, it seems from that list that it is not available and out of print.

I actually read something in another forum post that the translation was never authorized and was printed in Russia, where copyright laws are less stringent. I wonder if that has something to do with its lack of availability.

Zam_franca:Also, you can purchase the Hobbit in Eo on Amazon. I think it is called "La Hobito, aŭ tien kaj reen".
It is certainly cheaper if you purchase it on katalogo.uea.org : https://katalogo.uea.org/katalogo.php?inf=6363

I actually purchased La Hobito already here:

https://www.amazon.com/Hobito-Tien-kaj-Reen-Espera...

That's certainly a much nicer cover than the old one.

I read somewhere that there are actually two different Esperanto translations of The Hobbit. Do you know anything about that?

I read somewhere that there are actually two different Esperanto translations of The Hobbit. Do you know anything about that?

Well, according to vikipedio there is only one translation of it: https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Hobito#Esperanta_...

The case of Murder on the Orient-Express is an intriguing one.

From memory, the book was published in English around 1934 and the Esperanto translation appeared in 1937 as part of a series (Epoko Libro-Klubo) published by the Esperanto Publishing Company..

Since the translation and the publication would have taken at least a year, one has to conclude that the Esperanto version was brought out extremely quickly, and of course at a time when Agatha Christie was still alive and the book in copyright.

I have often wondered if the British Esperanto Association (as it was then) had in its archive a letter from Agatha Christie in her own hand granting permission or agreeing a royalty.

sudanglo:The case of Murder on the Orient-Express is an intriguing one.

From memory, the book was published in English around 1934 and the Esperanto translation appeared in 1937 as part of a series (Epoko Libro-Klubo) published by the Esperanto Publishing Company..

Since the translation and the publication would have taken at least a year, one has to conclude that the Esperanto version was brought out extremely quickly, and of course at a time when Agatha Christie was still alive and the book in copyright.

I have often wondered if the British Esperanto Association (as it was then) had in its archive a letter from Agatha Christie in her own hand granting permission or agreeing a royalty.

Sudanglo! Several years ago, when I was first investigating Esperanto and considering trying to learn the language, I remember you being here on the forums. I was actually wondering if you were still kicking around these parts.

It seems that the forums are a lot quieter these days. At the time, it seemed to me that Lernu was the hub of the Esperanto community. Has the community migrated elsewhere?

Is there a PM function on here? There doesn't seem to be, but I'd like to PM you if possible. Or if you have another way to reach you off-site, I'd just like to have a conversation since I know you to be an experienced, long-time Esperantist.

Thanks for the information on MOTOE. That is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. As you say, it would be interesting to know exactly how it came to be that they were allowed to publish their translation. I'm assuming that it's unlikely the translation was published without authorization, but I suppose it's possible that's the case. I did read a comment from someone previously that said the LOTR translation was not authorized and was published in Russia.

As a big Christie fan, I'd love to see a reprint here. I wonder, if permission was granted, if that permission somehow exists in perpetuity and if someone right now retains those rights to reprint the translation. I assume not, but who knows.

Follow this link for a pdf of the Esperanto of MOTOE.

Try comparing it with the English version here - see how much you can understand. before you use the crib