Difference between the dozens of versions of Public Domain books?

angelbleu · 02-18-2010, 04:11 AM

I've been trying to pick up a few classic works such as "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo and "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy.

Imagine my surprise to discover that Amazon apparently has dozens of versions of the same book!

For example, when I search for "war and peace tolstoy", I get 3 pages of results, including:

1. http://www.amazon.com/War-and-Peace-...6484216&sr=1-2

2. http://www.amazon.com/War-and-Peace-...6484216&sr=1-3

3. http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Vantage-...6484216&sr=1-5

Does anyone know what difference each of these versions have?

WillAdams · 02-18-2010, 07:52 AM

Who made them and put them up on the Kindle Store --- when Amazon first opened up self-publishing on the Kindle there was a bit of a land rush by entrepreneurs to post books made from Project Gutenberg or from self-made scans. The care and effort put into them and the resultant quality varies widely.

William

HarryT · 02-18-2010, 08:01 AM

Why are you looking there, rather than at the nicely hand-crafted versions right here at MR? Most of the ones in the Kindle Store are there "to make a quick buck". Ours at MR are created by people who love eBooks.

JMikeD · 02-18-2010, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why are you looking there, rather than at the nicely hand-crafted versions right here at MR? Most of the ones in the Kindle Store are there "to make a quick buck". Ours at MR are created by people who love eBooks.

I can attest to that. The formatting of the books here is also better than almost all the ones from the big publishers. This is my first stop for things to read.

Thanks to HarryT and the others here for the great job they do.

Mike

poohbear_nc · 02-18-2010, 11:41 AM

Ditto the the above comments - I'm currently reading HarryT's hand-crafted version of the Mapp & Lucia Omnibus (BTW - Amazon only had the first 2 volumes - and their formatting sucked!) - wonderful formatting! Look at MR first for the classics!

jgaiser · 02-18-2010, 11:56 AM

And I'll third Harry's comment. If you're looking the the classics (and not so classic), MR is the place to get them. If I haven't said it before -- Thank's to all the contributors for their hard work!

desertgrandma · 02-18-2010, 12:38 PM

Angelbleu, we're begging you. Check here first. The books are FREE and well formatted. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Click on my linky for help downloading.

angelbleu · 02-19-2010, 12:20 AM

Wow, thanks for pointing that out! (Gave me quite a "DOH!" moment

)

Is it possible to read MR books on a Kindle?

montsnmags · 02-19-2010, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelbleu

Wow, thanks for pointing that out! (Gave me quite a "DOH!" moment

)

Is it possible to read MR books on a Kindle?

It certainly is. You'll be wanting the Mobipocket format versions, I believe. Someone will be along in approximately 0.123secs to correct me if I'm wrong, so stay tuned.

Cheers,
Marc

desertgrandma · 02-19-2010, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelbleu

Wow, thanks for pointing that out! (Gave me quite a "DOH!" moment

)

Is it possible to read MR books on a Kindle?

Click on my linky........"how to download books from MR.....

angelbleu · 02-19-2010, 03:00 AM

@desertgrandma: Oops, sorry for being such a newbie.

I had set my forum preferences to "disable signatures", and was wondering what linky you were referring to! :P

Now I know better than to look for public domain books on Amazon's Kindle Store.

Thanks!

desertgrandma · 02-19-2010, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelbleu

@desertgrandma: Oops, sorry for being such a newbie.

I had set my forum preferences to "disable signatures", and was wondering what linky you were referring to! :P

Now I know better than to look for public domain books on Amazon's Kindle Store.

Thanks!

We don't have "every" PB book available, but its always best to check here first.....then www.feedbooks.com and then www.manybooks.net

fugazied · 02-21-2010, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Angelbleu, we're begging you. Check here first. The books are FREE and well formatted. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Click on my linky for help downloading.

Mobile read is like quality control for your PD books! A real time saver.

Blackguard · 02-22-2010, 10:01 AM

I will point out that, in some cases, Amazon is carrying kindle versions of books with updated translations (and therefore not out of copyright).

For example, in the case of The Count of Monte Cristo Amazon is carrying multiple versions. The most expensive version ($9.75 currently), is this one from Penguin, which is the one (relatively recently) translated by the late Robin Buss. All of the prior versions, including the PG version, all use the 1846 anonymous translation. Of course, the Buss translation is vastly superior, and in my opinion, well worth both reading and owning (particularly if you are a fan of Edmund Dantes). You can read a small bit about the differences on wikipedia.

cmdahler · 02-28-2010, 07:32 PM

I would echo that sentiment about the updated translations. The classics here on MR are obviously the free public domain versions, most of which were translated decades ago, if not more than a hundred years ago. The example of The Count of Monte Cristo is a good one: the recent translation by Robin Buss is excellent and updated and includes numerous footnotes to the text that bring much context into the story that a recent reader would not understand about the original text. Same thing with Don Quixote: the translation by Edith Grossman is excellent and includes hundreds of footnotes to the text.

I would say that if all you want is the same text that everyone read back in high school or college of these wonderful classics and have no interest in the context or added information provided by numerous researched footnotes, then the versions uploaded here on MR are obviously fine and there is no reason to pay anyone for the same thing one can find here for free. But there can be a valid reason for paying for an updated translation that is both excellent and provides much of interest in additional notations.

P.S.: I've been searching for a good epub of Buss' translation of Monte Cristo; Sony doesn't have it for sale at the Sony store. Amazon has it, but I don't have a Kindle. I found a epub of this translation at ebookmall.com for only $2.99, but I'm skeptical because it's so cheap. Anyone have any experience with that website? Anyone know if this really is the Buss translation, and does it include all the footnotes in the print version?

02-18-2010, 04:11 AM	#1
angelbleu Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Korea (South) Device: Blackberry Bold	Difference between the dozens of versions of Public Domain books? I've been trying to pick up a few classic works such as "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo and "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy. Imagine my surprise to discover that Amazon apparently has dozens of versions of the same book! For example, when I search for "war and peace tolstoy", I get 3 pages of results, including: 1. http://www.amazon.com/War-and-Peace-...6484216&sr=1-2 2. http://www.amazon.com/War-and-Peace-...6484216&sr=1-3 3. http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Vantage-...6484216&sr=1-5 Does anyone know what difference each of these versions have?

02-28-2010, 07:32 PM	#15
cmdahler Addict Posts: 292 Karma: 24688 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	I would echo that sentiment about the updated translations. The classics here on MR are obviously the free public domain versions, most of which were translated decades ago, if not more than a hundred years ago. The example of The Count of Monte Cristo is a good one: the recent translation by Robin Buss is excellent and updated and includes numerous footnotes to the text that bring much context into the story that a recent reader would not understand about the original text. Same thing with Don Quixote: the translation by Edith Grossman is excellent and includes hundreds of footnotes to the text. I would say that if all you want is the same text that everyone read back in high school or college of these wonderful classics and have no interest in the context or added information provided by numerous researched footnotes, then the versions uploaded here on MR are obviously fine and there is no reason to pay anyone for the same thing one can find here for free. But there can be a valid reason for paying for an updated translation that is both excellent and provides much of interest in additional notations. P.S.: I've been searching for a good epub of Buss' translation of Monte Cristo; Sony doesn't have it for sale at the Sony store. Amazon has it, but I don't have a Kindle. I found a epub of this translation at ebookmall.com for only $2.99, but I'm skeptical because it's so cheap. Anyone have any experience with that website? Anyone know if this really is the Buss translation, and does it include all the footnotes in the print version? Last edited by cmdahler; 02-28-2010 at 07:37 PM.

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02-18-2010, 07:52 AM	#2
WillAdams Wizard Posts: 1,258 Karma: 3439432 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (300ppi), Samsung Galaxy Book 12	Who made them and put them up on the Kindle Store --- when Amazon first opened up self-publishing on the Kindle there was a bit of a land rush by entrepreneurs to post books made from Project Gutenberg or from self-made scans. The care and effort put into them and the resultant quality varies widely. William

02-18-2010, 08:01 AM	#3
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Why are you looking there, rather than at the nicely hand-crafted versions right here at MR? Most of the ones in the Kindle Store are there "to make a quick buck". Ours at MR are created by people who love eBooks.

02-18-2010, 11:41 AM	#5
poohbear_nc Bah! Humbug! Posts: 62,811 Karma: 135239851 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	Ditto the the above comments - I'm currently reading HarryT's hand-crafted version of the Mapp & Lucia Omnibus (BTW - Amazon only had the first 2 volumes - and their formatting sucked!) - wonderful formatting! Look at MR first for the classics!

02-18-2010, 11:56 AM	#6
jgaiser Omnivorous Posts: 3,283 Karma: 27978909 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rural NW Oregon Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1	And I'll third Harry's comment. If you're looking the the classics (and not so classic), MR is the place to get them. If I haven't said it before -- Thank's to all the contributors for their hard work!

02-18-2010, 12:38 PM	#7
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462843 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	Angelbleu, we're begging you. Check here first. The books are FREE and well formatted. Satisfaction guaranteed. Click on my linky for help downloading.

02-19-2010, 12:20 AM	#8
angelbleu Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Korea (South) Device: Blackberry Bold	Wow, thanks for pointing that out! (Gave me quite a "DOH!" moment ) Is it possible to read MR books on a Kindle?

02-19-2010, 03:00 AM	#11
angelbleu Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Korea (South) Device: Blackberry Bold	@desertgrandma: Oops, sorry for being such a newbie. I had set my forum preferences to "disable signatures", and was wondering what linky you were referring to! :P Now I know better than to look for public domain books on Amazon's Kindle Store. Thanks!

02-22-2010, 10:01 AM	#14
Blackguard Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 14 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Kindle 2	I will point out that, in some cases, Amazon is carrying kindle versions of books with updated translations (and therefore not out of copyright). For example, in the case of The Count of Monte Cristo Amazon is carrying multiple versions. The most expensive version ($9.75 currently), is this one from Penguin, which is the one (relatively recently) translated by the late Robin Buss. All of the prior versions, including the PG version, all use the 1846 anonymous translation. Of course, the Buss translation is vastly superior, and in my opinion, well worth both reading and owning (particularly if you are a fan of Edmund Dantes). You can read a small bit about the differences on wikipedia.

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