A remarkable case of ‘translation plagiarism’: The series 1000 nejkrásnějších novell 1000 světových spisovatelů

Abstract

Between 1911 and 1915, publisher J.R. Vilímek introduced in his series 1000 nejkrásnějších novell 1000 světových spisovatelů [The 1000 best novellas of 1000 world authors] to Czech readers the work of several Dutch and Flemish authors – the best examples being Herman Teirlinck and Stijn Streuvels. Each collection of the series contained writers from different areas, each novella being accompanied by a short biography of the author. Among the translators we find famous names like Arnošt Procházka or Gabriele Kafková (sister of Franz Kafka). However, most Dutch short stories had already been published before, between 1910 and 1913, in the French series Les mille nouvelles nouvelles. Not only the concept but also the layout and often also Czech introductory texts are literally translated from French. In fact, the publisher committed a kind of plagiarism, especially if we consider that since the second half of the 19^th century it had been good practice to translate directly from the source language.