On Thu, 30 Jun 2016 11:22:52 -0700, Jeffry Ricker wrote:
Hi all,
I'm reading "A treatise on the diseases produced by onanism"--an
1832 English translation of a book written by a well-known French
physician, Samuel Auguste David Tissot that was first published
in 1758.
If you can read French and have access to the Hathitrust, there are
several editions of Tissot's book (starting with a 1764 edition).
There are several books by Tissot in the original French there.
That being said, there was an English translation of the book
published in 1766 and the translator is identified as A. Hume,
see:
https://books.google.com/books?id=B6oenQEACAAJ&dq=Onanism+tissot+Hume&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiCyuS1jNHNAhVj04MKHT25DPkQ6AEIJzAA
and
http://www.worldcat.org/title/onanism-translated-by-a-hume/oclc/753011594?referer=di&ht=edition
The following link is to the footnotes of chapter 6 in the book
"Seduced, Abandoned, and Reborn: Visions of Youth in Middle-Class
America ..."
By Rodney Hessinger and it provides some additional info on the
different editions of Tissot's book as well as suggesting the book
"Solitary Sex" by Thomas Laqueur (2003) as source on the various
printings:
https://books.google.com/books?id=wmcR2S_MovAC&pg=PA225&dq=%E2%80%9CA+treatise+on+the+diseases+produced+by+onanism%E2%80%9D&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwid-9CD-tDNAhXm4IMKHUQgB3UQ6AEIJjAC#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CA%20treatise%20on%20the%20diseases%20produced%20by%20onanism%E2%80%9D&f=false
For "Solitary Sex" and Tissot, see:
https://books.google.com/books?id=pDOLAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22solitary+sex%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=tissot
The cover page states that the book was translated "BY A PHYSICIAN,
Member of the Medical Society of the city and county of New York, &tc.
&tc."
The translator also wrote the preface, but signed it "TRANSLATOR."
It's driving me crazy that I haven't found the translator's name.
Perhaps the other sources I cite above may give some indication
of who the translator was of the 1832 edition but it is quite possible
that translator was an M.D. who was either affiliated with The "College
of Physicians & Surgeons" (which eventually would become part of
Columbia University) or the Bellevue Medical School or affiliated with
a private hospital -- in any case there may have been a certain
notoriety attached to translating such a work though there appears
to have been a number of books on the topic during the 19th century.
MY QUESTIONS: Does anyone know if it was common in the early
nineteenth century for translators of scholarly works not to identify
themselves? Or might it be that he didn't want his name associated
with a book about "self-pollution."
Chris Green has already chimed in on this but my own impression is
that a translator would ordinarily identify him or herself (the
Hathitrust
has a number of books from the early 19th century and one could
empirically determine to what extent translators identified themselves,
especially for academic and medical works. It may be worthwhile to
examine publisher's lists of books (or their ads in journals and
magazines)
to see how often translator's names are provided for English versions
of foreign works.
-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]
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