JANE AUSTEN WAS NOT TRANSLATED INTO DANISH UNTIL 1855, DECADES AFTER TRANSLATIONS INTO OTHER EUROPEAN LANGUAGES.
The first French translation appeared in 1813 despite the fact that the Napoleonic wars were still raging. So why did Denmark take so long to catch up?
First, we will look at how much Jane Austen was aware of Denmark. The only reference I can find that she made to the country specifically was in her History of England, penned when she was 15, where she mentioned that King James 1st married Queen Anne of Denmark.
It is possible that Jane Austen may have read Mary Wollstonecraft’s Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark published in 1796. Wollstonecraft was not enamoured of Denmark, preferring Sweden. She described Danish “men of business” as “domestic tyrants, coldly immersed in their own affairs, and so ignorant of the state of other countries, that they dogmatically assert that Denmark is the happiest country in the world; the prince royal the best of all possible princes; and count Bernstorff the wisest of ministers.”
She thought that “the Danes, in general, seem extremely averse to innovation”, that “wealth does not appear to be sought for, amongst the Danes, to obtain the elegant luxuries of life; for a want of taste is very conspicuous at Copenhagen”, and that “nothing can give a more forcible idea of the dullness which eats away all activity of mind, than the insipid routine of court, without magnificence or elegance”.
This did not paint a pretty picture of Denmark to English readers in 1796 but Wollstonecraft also went on to state that “the inhabitants of Norway [then in the possession of Denmark] and Denmark are the least oppressed people of Europe. The press is free…without fearing to displease the government. On the subject of religion they are likewise becoming tolerant.”
Cian Duffy, Professor of English Literature at Lund University, Sweden, speculated that “the late eighteenth-century Denmark which Wollstonecraft describes seems to possess many of the characteristics often cited today in explanation of the country’s ‘happiness’: a highly-regulated society committed to the promotion of social democratic values, freedom of expression, and personal and political liberties.”
So we now return to why Austen was not popular enough to be translated into Danish as early as other European languages. Research shows that this unpopularity in the early years can be attributed to the British treatment of Denmark during the Napoleonic wars. The First Battle of Copenhagen took place in early April 1801. The Austens must have been really busy preparing for the imminent removal to Bath in May, but both national and regional newspapers, including those in Hampshire, were full of reports of the goings on in Copenhagen.
Hampshire Chronicle - Monday 20 April 1801. Credit: The British Library Board. All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive.
The battle came about over British fears that the powerful Danish fleet would ally with France. Denmark was theoretically neutral but in early 1801, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Denmark formed a coalition with the intention of protecting their own shipping and cut Britain’s supplies from the Baltics of timber and other products vital to the navy. The British sent a fleet to break the coalition with Admiral Hyde Parker in charge and Admiral Horatio Nelson as his second in command on board HMS Elephant, a ship that would later be commanded by Jane’s brother, Frank. The Danes put up a good battle but their fleet was defeated with 12 Danish ships captured or destroyed, 1,700 dead or wounded men and 2,000 men captured. The British had several ships grounded but later refloated and 1,000 dead or wounded. The battle was considered one of Nelson’s greatest victories but Danish history remembers it slightly differently: “Britain's great sea hero is used to annihilating his enemies in a short time. But when he attacked Copenhagen in 1801, Nelson came close to experiencing the first defeat of his career. Only gross disobedience and a blind eye saved the Admiral from a humiliating failure.” (Translated from historienet.dk) This refers to Nelson lifting his telescope to his blind eye so that he could not see the signal to withdraw from his commanding officer.
This, however, was just the First Battle of Copenhagen. The second was in August and September of 1807 and is also known as the Bombardment of Copenhagen. At this time, Jane was living at the home of her brother Frank in Southampton while he was away commanding HMS St Albans. He was not at the Battle of Copenhagen. The Danes were under severe pressure to pledge themselves to Napoleon and close the Baltic Sea to British ships, so the Danish capital was to see battle with the British again. This time, the city was attacked as well as the attack on water, from both the British Navy and more than 25,000 troops transported to do battle. Denmark had only 5,000 regular troops and a similar number of militias. Most of the civilian inhabitants of Copenhagen were evacuated in the few days before the bombardment. The result was that Denmark agreed to surrender its navy and its naval stores. Britain removed 170 ships.
As can be imagined, these two battles caused an enormous amount of animosity towards the British and the second battle took place a mere four years before Jane Austen published Sense and Sensibility. Anti-British sentiment meant that very few British authors would be translated into Danish, especially books by an author that expounded the virtues of the British Navy!
Map of Denmark showing Anholt and Rugen with Hazel Mills’ added graphic text. Credit: David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries.
Jane was certainly made aware of the country in 1812 when brother Frank was stationed on the occupied Danish island of Anholt, situated between Denmark and Sweden. At this time he was commander of HMS Elephant, the ship that had been Nelson’s at the First Battle of Copenhagen. From one of her letters to Frank, when he was stationed off Rugen (an island now part of Germany but was at the time part of Swedish Pomerania), we know that she had looked at the country on a map, so I would presume that she had also seen the position of Anholt. (The map above shows the relative positions of Anholt, Rugen and Fynshav, where I live.) Anholt had been taken over by the British in order to re-establish a lighthouse that the Danes had taken out of commission to disrupt foreign shipping and resulted in the wrecking of a British ship and the taking of her crew as prisoners of war in 1808.
Frank wrote to Jane in 1812 from Anholt with a description of life on the island:
The garrison at present consists of about three men of a veteran battalion, and a few marine artillery, which form by many degrees the most considerable portion of the population, for, exclusive of the military and their appendages of wives and children, there are but sixteen families on the island, who all reside at the only village on it, near the high ground to the westward, and whose principal occupation is fishing, in which they are generally very successful during the summer. Antecedent to the war between England and Denmark and the consequent occupation of the island by the English, the Anholters paid a small rent to the proprietor of the soil, who is a Danish nobleman residing at Copenhagen; but at present they are considered and fed as prisoners of war by the English. They are an exceedingly poor people, and seem to enjoy but a small proportion of worldly comfort.
The title page of the first Danish translation, found in ‘A Jane Austen Bibliography’ by David Gilson (1983). Credit: Oak Knoll
The first Danish publication of Jane’s work was in 1855 and was a translation of Sense and Sensibility entitled Forstand og Hjerte, meaning “Mind and Heart”. It was produced in three volumes, as was the original, and translated by Carl Frederik Wilhelm Ignatius Karup of Copenhagen, who had travelled in 1852 through Germany, Belgium and England. The books were printed on very poor quality paper so are now incredibly rare. There are two known to exist, one in the Copenhagen University Library (see facsimile copy of the title page above) and one in the Royal Library, Copenhagen. Neither are in their original covers. There would not be another translation until the 20th century. Between 1928 and 1930 the Gyldendal Bibliotek was published. This was a 52-volume set of literature and Pride and Prejudice, or Stolthed og Fordom was volume number 24. It is a particularly beautiful edition.
The first Danish translation of Pride & Prejudice. Credit: Hazel Mills
However, in 1904 there was a handwritten translation of Pride and Prejudice for a woman by her two daughters that is now in the possession of the Jane Austen’s House Museum. The book was made so that their mother could read the book her daughters had loved so much.
The novel was transcribed by hand and the sisters painted illustrations which they had copied from those of Charles E. Brock. The book comprises of seventeen paper booklets, each bound with ribbon and encased in a linen covered hardback cover. The cover is decorated in embroidery on the front and back. This was obviously a labour of love and one can only imagine how long it took.
1904 handwritten translation of Pride & Prejudice. Credit: Jane Austen’s House Museum
1904 handwritten translation of Pride & Prejudice. Credit: Jane Austen’s House Museum
Surprisingly, the next edition to be published was an illustrated version of Lady Susan in 1945, when Denmark was much happier with Britain following the Second World War. Pride and Prejudice was published again in 1952 and 1962, the latter with a very unusual front cover illustration showing Mrs Bennet, Jane and Elizabeth in late Victorian costume.
Emma was translated in 1958 and illustrated by a well known Danish artist, Svend Otto, but Sense and Sensibility was not published again until 1974, this time entitled with the direct translation, Fornuft og Følelse, along with the first translation of Mansfield Park. Northanger Abbey was published as Catherine in 1975, the same year as Persuasion, which was translated as Kærlighed og Svaghed, meaning “Love and Weakness”.
Page from ‘Emma’ published in 1958. Credit: Martins
The most prolific time for publication was around the time of the BBC Pride and Prejudice series in 1995. There were four paperback publications that tied in with TV series and films around that time. This time Persuasion was entitled Lydighed og Længsel which translates as “Obedience and Longing”. Bridget Jones’s Diary was also published in the same format.
Copies of the translations from Hazel Mills’ personal collection. Credit: Hazel Mills
Most recently, all the novels have been published by Lindhart og Ringhof between 2016 and 2019. These books are beautifully bound in cloth. New books in Denmark are quite expensive so this set is the result of birthday gifts and a generous book token given to me by the Sønderborg Bibliotek for a very well attended talk that I gave on Jane Austen. Jane may have been a slow starter in Denmark but she is definitely very popular now.
Copies of the Lindhart og Ringhof translations from Hazel Mills’ personal collection. Credit: Hazel Mills
© Hazel Mills - Founding member of the Jane Austen Cambridge Group and speaker for the UK Jane Austen Society
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Image credit: Hazel Mills