young friends principally in view, and were therefore compelled sometimes to conciliate local feelings and deviate a little from strict translation; but we believe that all these variations are recorded in the Notes which were hastily drawn with a view to show that our book had some little pretensions to literary consideration though deep research was out of plan.
In forming these notes you will see that we are eminently indebted to yourselves and to the article in the Quarterly Review by our friend and neighbour Mr. T. Cohen. –
I take the opportunity of adding to the parcel a little collection of our Nursery songs some of them of great antiquity and extensive currency. – And though the collection is done with no care it may perhaps have some interest in your eyes.
I have a great desire to publish here (with the aßistance of our engraver and designer Mr. Cruickshank to whose talents such a work would be very suitable) a translation of Reineke Vos, of which the English have no metrical version. – I am told that Dr. W. Soltau who translated our Hudibras into German, translated Reineke into English verse. – Now though as a foreigner his translation would require considerable revision, it might still save much labor and it would be a great favor to me if you could either from personal knowledge or through any Channel inform me where Soltau’s version is. – I do not even know whether he is alive, but I know that the version was offered to a London Bookseller who declined publishing it. – If it is in existence and could be obtained I should be glad to negotiate for it.
| I am Gentlemen with the highest respect Your obedt serv. |
| Inner Temple London 26th June 1823 |
Edgar Taylor. |
Rem: who is „Herr Korbes?“ – he has puzzled us greatly –
Hochgeehrter Herr,
Für die Uebersetzung der Kinder und Hausmaerchen , die uns richtig zugekommen ist, sagen wir Ihnen den verbindlichsten Dank. Das Unternehmen an sich muß uns schon schmeichelhaft seyn, allein wir hoffen auch, daß es für die Sache selbst, das heißt für die Erforschung der lebendigen Sage von Nutzen seyn wird. Wenn naemlich Ihre Landsleute an dieser Art Poesie Geschmack finden, so regt das Buch wahrscheinlich irgend jemand auf, in aehnlicher Weise eine
Otto Hartwig: Zur ersten englischen Übersetzung der Kinder- und Hausmärchen der Brüder Grimm. Otto Harrassowitz, Leipzig 1898, Seite 7. Digitale Volltext-Ausgabe bei Wikisource, URL: https://de.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Seite:Hartwig_Uebersetzung_Maerchen_Grimm.djvu/7&oldid=- (Version vom 1.8.2018)
