The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Hamlet, dán királyfi. Irta Shakspere. Forditotta Arany János by William Shakespeare, Shakspere on Földvári Books

[Shakespeare, William] Shakspere

[The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark] Hamlet, dán királyfi. Irta Shakspere. Forditotta Arany János.

Budapest: Ráth Mór, 1882. Second edition (first in 1867). In later cloth. [4], 162, [2] p. Spine with small damage at head. Old ownership inscriptions on title page, and front flyleaf. Underlines in pencil on pp. 69–70. Pages yellowed due to aging. Otherwise in fine condition.

Although Hamlet was the first Shakespeare play to be translated into Hungarian already in the late 18th century, the first poetic translation, directly from English by János Arany, was completed and published only in 1867, as the eighth volume of Shakspeare szinművei (Shakespeare’s Plays; published between 1867 and 1878). The present volume is the second edition of Arany’s translation and its first appearance outside the series.

The tragedy was first translated into Hungarian by Ferenc Kazinczy (Kassa, 1790), after Ludwig Schröder’s German translation. The first prosaic translation directly from English was made by Péter Vajda in 1839, whose text was popular in the theatres however it has never appeared in print.