Földvári Books

Early Hungarian Editions, First Hungarian Translation

[Shakespeare, William] Arany, János

[A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; The Life and Death of King John.] Shakspere-forditások. A szent-iván éji álom. Hamlet, dán királyfi. János király. (Arany János összegyüjtött munkái. VI. kötet.)

Budapest: Franklin-Társulat, [n.d., around 1905]. Fourth edition. In publisher’s red cloth, with ornate spine and front panel. [2], [1]–96, [I]–VII, [1], [1]–204, [2], [I]–VII, [4], 6–133, [1] p. Title page and the subsequent leaf loose. Pages yellowed due to acidic paper. Otherwise in fine condition.

Contains three translations

1. A szent-iván éji álom [A Midsummer Night's Dream]. This is the first Hungarian translation directly from English. Arany completed the translation in 1863, the play was premiered in 1864 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth. The translation was first published in the same year in the first volume of Shakspeare szinművei (Shakespeare’s Plays; published between 1867 and 1878). Arany made an earlier translation after Christoph Martin Wieland’s German translation, but that was never published.

2. Hamlet, dán királyfi [The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark]. 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. 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.

3. János király [The Life and Death of King John]. This is the first Hungarian translation of the play, and it was first published in 1867, as the fourteenth volume of Shakspeare szinművei.

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Price: €700.00