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Originally Posted by tomsem
Translated works are another issue. Again though the original work might be in public domain, the best translations of them will often not be. And there is a lot of subjective judgement about what constitutes a good translation.
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I’ve long made the case that it’s worth spending money on a recent translation instead of reading a public domain translation. However, much as I like Oxford World’s Classics editions in particular, I have a hard time spending more than a few bucks on an English-language book that’s in the public domain (although I will spend a few bucks!). There’s not enough value-added especially when you can access free commentary online.
Sometimes I cheat and if I’m lucky, I can read all/most of the front matter in an Amazon sample. It doesn’t get me footnotes, but it’s something. And, frankly, too copious footnotes can be a distraction. They tell me things I already know, but my concentration has been interrupted.
As for the particular example cited here, I wonder if the original source was an expurgated American version. While QC at Gutenberg is much, much better than it used to be, (everything I download these days is readable and reasonably formatted), there’s still that element of getting what you pay for. I agree that an abridged version of anything isn’t worth the epaper it’s virtually printed on even for free.
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Kindle Store is a mess, since there can be dozens of editions to sift through and they're of highly variable quality.
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As with Gutenberg, I find the Amazon editions of PD books in their standard generic cover are much more reliable than they used to be, to the extent that it’s my go-to these days. Easier to “buy” on Amazon and direct download than to do the download/sideload or STK dance.