Postby deHavilland » Wed Sep 04, 2013 6:03 am
Hm, that's actually very interesting. I've never seen him listed anywhere alongside other translators, which seems unusual given that his translation appears to be more accessible to the general public via eBay than, say, the Richmond.
He's Henry Llewellyn Williams, and he's noted for having translated a pretty sizable number of French volumes into English. Now that I've looked into him, I've seen his Les Mis translation cited as being "The Outcasts," which means that the new Donougher won't be the first commercially available English translation to also translate the title.
Apparently he translated for the Hurst & Company publishers, which may or may not be related to the Hurst & Blackett publishers responsible for the Wraxall translation. But given as one's out of New York and the other out of London, they could just as easily be completely separate entities. His version of Les Mis was published as part of a "Cosmos Series," whatever that means, haven't found anything else on it, in 1899 with the note: "Translated from the Author's Latest Revised Definitive Edition by Henry L. Williams." That would put it after the Hapgood and a little less than a century before the Denny in the chronology of translations.
The publishers list it as being "One Complete Volume," but Amazon says it only has 188 pages, which seems pretty suspect - though this is probably Amazon's mistake more than anything else.
Vol. 7, Issue 1 - Vol. 8, Issue 6, dated September 1, 1862 of the American Publishers' Circular and Literary Gazette includes a note in reference to Williams' translation of Notre Dame de Paris, but nothing in regards to his Les Misérables. Which, if the publishing date was actually 1899, makes sense. But there's very little to go off of in regards to this translation. Low circulation and a small number of prints made, maybe?
"Quand vous aurez besoin de Bahorel, capitaine, Bahorel est là! Je sais faire trébucher tous les chevaux du garde-corps avec une ficelle... Rien qu'une petite ficelle. Enfin, pensez à Bahorel du Café Musain!"