Dear Christian,
Thanks for setting down your ideas so clearly.
The results from MS2 are mixed: your points 2 and 5 in MS2 are the same as
in French editions; I can't find 4 in MS2; but 3 corresponds to MS2;
"Seulement, je vous previens que je le fais a vos frais."
So the original English and Spanish translators seem to have used a text
prior to (or later than) that used by modern French editions. What is
clearly needed is a definitive French text, following the best text, but
also indicating all the various variants: quite a big task...
Best,
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: Christian Sánchez <chvsanchez~at~arnet.com.ar>
To: 'Jules Verne Forum' <jvf~at~math.technion.ac.il>
Sent: 19 March 2000 06:01
Subject: RE: Another version?
Yes, Bill, I had found one more variant; it appears below as B3. However, as
I found the variants almost by chance, maybe there are more.
Now let's compare all the text variants founded.
Butcher's and all modern Spanish translations say A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
variants.
We know that the French source A is the book published in 1872.
The old English translations say B1, B2, B3, B4, B5.
However, one must consider also the old Spanish translations:
Roberto Guibourg's, Anonymous 1 and 2 say B1, A2, B3, A4, A5.
Firstly, we can eliminate the minor B4 variant as irrelevant.
Secondly, we can eliminate the B2 and B5 variants as invented by Towle in
order to erase all signs of the "Morning Chronicle" (a newspaper not
existent in 1872, as Butcher establishes in his Appendix).
Then B1 and B3 variants in old English and Spanish editions remain as the
proof of the existence of a French source B.
Now which is the source B? More researches are needed.
These are all the text variants:
Butcher:
A1:
'On foot?' cried the passengers in unison.
'But how far is this station, then?' one of them asked.
'Twelve miles, on the other side of the river.'
'Twelve miles in the snow?' exclaimed Stamp W. Proctor.
(Chapter 28)
A2:
'The Morning Chronicle assures us that he is a gentleman.'
Now, as the Morning Chronicle had pointed out, there was in fact very good
reason to believe that the thief did not belong to any of the known criminal
gangs of England.
This is the calculation made by the Morning Chronicle:
(Chapter 3)
A3:
'Starting now.'
'It's pure madness!' cried Andrew Stuart...
(Chapter 3)
A4:
'Diamonds are trumps,' he said. 'Your lead, I believe, Mr Stuart.'
(Chapter 3)
A5:
The Times, the Standard, the Evening Star, the Morning Chronicle, and twenty
other large-circulation newspapers declared themselves against Mr Fogg.
(Chapter 4)
Rogers:
B1:
"But it is only a mile from here," said one of the passengers.
"Yes, but it's on the other side of the river."
"And can't we cross that in a boat?" asked the Colonel.
"That's impossible. The creek is swollen from the rains. It is a rapid,
and we shall have to make a ten mile detour to the north to find a ford."
B2:
"The Daily Telegraph says that he is a gentleman."
There were real grounds for supposing, as the Daily Telegraph said, that the
thief did not belong to a professional band.
Here is the estimate made by the Daily Telegraph:
B3:
"At once. Only I warn you that I shall do it at your expense."
"It's absurd!" cried Stuart...
B4:
"Diamonds are trumps: be so good as to play, gentlemen."
B5:
The Times, Standard, Morning Post, and Daily News, and twenty other highly
respectable newspapers declared themselves against Mr. Fogg...
Regards,
Christian Sánchez
chvsanchez~at~arnet.com.ar
Rosario, Argentina
Received on Mon 20 Mar 2000 - 13:23:07 IST