Produced by Anne Wingate
Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann David Wyss
This edition (c)2000
by
Pink Tree Press
PO Box 16536
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116
ISBN 1-930860-50-1
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This Gutenberg Edition of <The Swiss Family Robinson> is a giftfrom the Editor's Cut imprint of Pink Tree Press,www.pink-tree-press.com. All Editor's Cut(tm) editions arefree except for handling charges necessary to providethe book in your preferred format.
This Editor's Cut(tm) edition brings you Johann David Wyss's classic<Swiss Family Robinson> as you've never read it before! It isVolume One of <The Castaways Collection>.
The Editor's Cut(tm) imprint always provides the best, up-to-date,re-edited texts of the most beloved family classics, suitablefor personal reading or homeschool.
This edition (c)2000
by
Pink Tree Press
PO Box 16536
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116
ISBN 1-930860-50-1
Foreword
No unabridged edition of <Swiss Family Robinson> exists in English.Indeed, the book has been rewritten so many times, by so manyeditors, that it can legitimately be said that that no completeedition of the book exists in <any> language.
Johann David Wyss, a Swiss pastor, originally wrote this bookto entertain and instruct his four sons. Years later, his sonJohann (or Jean—accounts differ) Rudolf Wyss, by then a professorof philosophy, persuaded his father to allow him to complete andedit the unfinished manuscript. It was published in two volumesin Zurich in 1812-1813.
Its French translator, Mme de Montholieu, obtained permissionto greatly enlarge the book. It was published in five volumesfrom 1824 through 1826. The first English edition, abridged,was published in 1814; it was followed by several other Englishtranslations of varying quality. In 1849 W. H. G. Kingstonre-translated, and greatly abridged, Mme. De Montholieu'sversion. Most English versions are based on Kingston's abridgedversion.
Despite a vast number of amusing errors in flora and fauna, thebook has entertained, and warmed the hearts of, many generations.However, most modern editions omit an incredible amount even ofKingston's translation by making small cuttings here and there,some of them maddeningly inept. The Editor's Cut edition fromPink Tree Press has been based on, and compared with, no fewerthan five previous editions, all of them out of copyright. Most,though not all, of the cuttings have been restored. The materialthat continues to be omitted is of little imaginable interest toanyone other than a scholar of nineteenth century literature.
Paragraphing has been redone in order to facilitate ease ofreading. Some archaic spelling and grammar have been retained,as they are part of the flavor of the book; they have been changedwhere necessary for clarity. The British-style punctuation hasbeen retained. The lengthy and unnecessary chapter headings havebeen omitted. Some parenthetical information is provided, mostoften to define words no longer to be found in many Englishdictionaries.
Anne Winga