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Numismatic and History Discussion Forums => Classical Numismatics Books and References Discussion Forum => Topic started by: Reid Goldsborough on October 31, 2009, 12:14:42 pm

Title: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Reid Goldsborough on October 31, 2009, 12:14:42 pm
Lisa Weidauer's 1975 book Probleme der frühen Elektronprägung (Problems in Early Electrum Coinage) is one of the standard references, frequently used in coin attributions, for what are arguably the world's first coins. Many of us know enough German to understand auction catalogs but not books such as this one.

The project to translate Dr. Weidauer's book, announced here and elsewhere earlier, is now complete. If you're interested in obtaining for $20 a copy of the translation, read on.

This past April I asked about a half dozen European auction houses if they knew of Dr. Weidauer and how to contact her, and if so to forward to her my email inquiry about having her book translated into English. I received a cooperative response from Münzen & Medaillen, which graciously indicated they would write her a letter and enclose a print-out of my email. Dr. Weidauer responded to me via email in May.

I had asked Dr. Weidauer's permission for a group of us to have her 114-page book, still important 34 years later, translated into English so we could better understand her thinking about this fascinating subject. She replied, in part, "I am glad to hear that my book is used and of course a translation into English will be much easier for you. I'm quite willing to give the permission." An effort to contact the publisher went unanswered, with the publisher perhaps wondering, understandably, why we were bothering them about a book that has been out of print for more than a quarter of a century.

The next step was finding a translator. To make a long story shorter, Dane Kurth, widely known online as the current administrator of the online auction archive service Wildwinds.com, agreed to take on the task (thanks to Bruce Nesset for the suggestion). Dane did a marvelous job, truly outstanding, not only handling the translation, including the numismatic terms, but also retaining the same pagination of the original (she placed some of the shorter footnotes into the body of the text and others at the end of the particular page) and even incorporating into the text small scans of the Lydian script of coin legends. I did some copyediting/proofreading afterward. I don't expect Dane to be terribly eager to do another project like this as she said when finished that she was glad it was over! Kudos again to Dane for her efforts.

We have two versions of the translation, one in an early Microsoft Word (1.x) format so it will be widely accessible, the other a PDF version for anybody who can't read or import the Word file (all you need for PDF files is Adobe Reader, which is a free download). The Word and PDF files, which contain the same information, are of the text and the catalog (descriptions of coins illustrated in plates) of the book. Not included are scans of the 29 plates of coin and other photos.

This effort was never intended as a republication of this book, just a translation aimed at people who have already bought it and want to better understand it. That's what I asked permission for, and that's what I received. The translation therefore will primarily be useful to people who already have Probleme der frühen Elektronprägung. If you don't have the book, you should be able to find a copy from an ancient numismatic bookseller.

The way Dane and I decided to set this up was for me to handle responding to inquiries, receiving payments, and emailing out her translation. This is not a for-profit effort but an expense-sharing effort. I don't know exactly how many people will want this translation, though after putting out feelers earlier this year it appears that it will be relatively few. So we decided to set a fee of $20 for anybody who wants a copy of the translation emailed to them. This is an email-only project. I won't be able to mail out printed pages. For payment PayPal is preferred, and payment must be in American dollars.

If you'd like to purchase a copy, let me know if you want a Word DOC file (3.2 MB in size) or Adobe PDF file (1.4 MB in size). Send me a private FORVM message specifying the email address you'd like this sent to.

For early electrum buffs, you'll likely find some material in Dr. Weidauer's book you agree with and some you disagree with. I did.

Perhaps others might consider similar efforts to translate other key books in their specialty areas. Like putting up numismatic Web sites, I look at translation projects as a good way of spreading numismatic knowledge and enjoyment.
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Reid Goldsborough on November 10, 2009, 07:10:09 pm
Just a quick addendum. I earlier credited Bruce Nesset for suggesting Dane Kurth as a person to contact about the possibility of translating Weidauer. In making sure I didn't miss any requests for the translation, I just came across an email from Mark Fox, who also made the same suggestion, so thanks to Mark as well.

Eleven people so far have requested the translation, with announcements yet to appear in various print publications. As a recap, if you'd like the text in English (no plates) of Lisa Weidauer's seminal 1975 book Probleme der frühen Elektronprägung (Problems in Early Electrum Coinage) emailed to you for $20, send email to weidauerproject@gmail.com.

Others should consider doing translation projects with key books in other languages. For it to work you need a translator who's more interested in the subject matter and contributing to numismatics than making serious money, somebody also who doesn't look down upon those who don't read multiple languages as not being "serious" scholars, which not unexpectedly I've run into here.
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: helvetica on November 16, 2009, 05:15:07 pm
And an additional note: I knew there'd be no serious money in this when I agreed to do it and I never look down on people who aren't multi-lingual. Most Europeans have a huge advantage over the Americans in this respect - considering that most numismatic works (discounting Burgos which is in Spanish) are in English, German, French, Italian or Latin, well, those are the languages which most junior- and highschool students are taught in Europe. (In fact a lot of Swiss schools teach all five languages   :o) whereas - as far as I know - Spanish in the only commonly taught foreign language in the US.
I luvvvvv translating stuff (as long as there aren't too many footnotes to break the flow  :tongue:)
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Brennos on October 17, 2013, 11:07:12 am
UP  ;D

As this post is now 4 years old, i just wonder if this email adress is still valid ? 
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Reid Goldsborough on October 17, 2013, 02:29:17 pm
Is the Lynian Lion still the world's first coin?

Yep, weidauerproject@gmail.com is still valid. Hasn't been getting a lot of action lately, but I still have my local copy of Thunderbird check it.

If interested in the translation, please specify if you want the Word DOC or Adobe PDF version.
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Brennos on November 02, 2013, 10:26:57 am
Hello, i send several emails to this address without any answer  ???
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Reid Goldsborough on November 02, 2013, 02:16:17 pm
My bad. My installation had stopped retrieving Gmail from this address without my knowing it. I typed in the password again and got a bunch of email, mostly spam, a couple legit, which I'll respond to now.
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: kencooke on April 16, 2015, 04:43:25 am
Is this translation still available? I have tried the gmail address a week or so ago. I am just about to collect my copy of her original book from the post and am looking forward to reading it.

Ken
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Reid Goldsborough on April 16, 2015, 11:03:36 am
Just send the original poster above a private message, specifying the email address you'd like it sent to.
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Michael C10 on January 13, 2021, 07:36:56 am
Hi
Is the translation still available?
Not sure how I send a private message anyway - oldie newby!
Thanks
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Molinari on January 13, 2021, 10:21:09 am
I purchased a copy from Dane last year.  It is very well done.  To send her a PM, click on her name and the option should pop up.

Nick
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Joe Sermarini on January 13, 2021, 11:49:38 am
Hi
Is the translation still available?
Not sure how I send a private message anyway - oldie newby!
Thanks


You need three posts before you can send a private message.
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: helvetica on February 03, 2021, 05:31:25 pm
I just sent him an email.
Thanks for the recommendation, Nick !
Title: Re: Weidauer translation project
Post by: Kevin D on June 09, 2021, 12:49:01 pm
I purchased a copy from Dane last year.  It is very well done.  To send her a PM, click on her name and the option should pop up.

Nick

I bought a copy last week, contacting Dane by sending a PM as above.

This is a 109 page PDF English translation of the German original.

This work is still a standard reference for early electrum coinage, and Dane's English translation gives us linguistically challenged numismatists a chance to do more than just look at the plate images. In addition to the German text translation, Dane has also managed to reproduce all the charts, tables, archaic letter characters, and drawings in her translation, intact and in the same context as they appear in the German original. Nothing has been lost or omitted. As previously stated, you will need the German text publication of the original book for the plate images.