The Swiss Family Robinson (Der Schweizerische Robinson)

Zurich 1812-13 (German) is the true first and the census claim is confirmed on that point, but the English precedence note needs correcting in two respects. The 1814 M.J. Godwin English is not translated from the German at all: it derives entirely from Isabelle de Montolieu's French adaptation, "Le Robinson suisse, ou journal d'un père de famille naufragé avec ses enfans," Paris: Arthus Bertrand, 1814, in four volumes. The evidence is internal — the English chapter divisions match the French (thirty-six chapters against the German's twenty-eight), the author's name is given in the French form "Wiss," and the German subtitle describing the father as a preacher is dropped. Translation is conjecturally attributed to William Godwin and/or Mary Jane Clairmont, but the attribution is disputed and should not be stated as fact. The English continuation appeared in 1816, and the title "The Swiss Family Robinson" was first adopted only in 1818. So three editions are separately collected: the Zurich German first (1812-13), the Montolieu French (1814), and the Godwin English (1814).