IN PARIS WITH JANE AUSTEN

Vera Quin: 1-902918-22-3
Three Literary Walks

One fascinating byway of English Literature is how quickly pirated versions of Jane Austen's novels were translated into French and made available in Paris so soon after their publication in England. Despite the Napoleonic Wars a variety of English books and scientific papers was smuggled to France for translation, sometimes on cartel ships exchanging French and English prisoners of war.

Vera Quin has writen an engaging guide book to those streets in Geneva and Paris where Jane's Austen's novels were translated; where the printers and booksellers lived, and the libraries from which copies were borrowed.

She considers the differences between the English and French versions whereby, much like modern television adaptations, subtlety of language was lost but romantic appeal was amplified. She includes much background material, providing a very clear account of the French Revolution and details of the work of contemporary female novelists who were Jane Austen's continental literary competitors.

 

 

The First Pages

Enlarge the cover

You may order the Hardback edition here:

You may order the Paperback edition here:

Back to the Cappella Archive catalogue
 The Author
Vera Quin went to nine schools in five countries and then to Girton College, Cambridge, where she read English.

The bulk of her working life was spent at the Learning Disabilities Clinic at St ThomasŐ Hospital and in schools trying to teach learning-disabled children.

(She wrote, with Dr Alan Macauslan, `Reading and Spelling Difficulties: A medical approach', and `Dyslexia: What parents ought to know'. She lives in London.