Thomas Common (1850–1919)David S. Thatcher, ''Nietzsche in England, 1890-1914'', University of Toronto Press, 1970. was a translator and critic, who translated several books by

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

into English. There is little information about him biographically, though indications are that he was a well-educated and literate scholar. He lived in the area of

Corstorphine Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporate ...

, Scotland which is now a suburb of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. In the mid-1890s, he joined a project led by Alexander Tille to produce a complete English edition of Nietzsche's work. Common translated several of them, including a version of ''

Thus Spoke Zarathustra ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None'' (german: Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen), also translated as ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', is a work of philosophical fiction written by German philosopher Friedrich Niet ...

'' published in 1909. In 1901 he published a book called ''Nietzsche as Critic, Philosopher, Poet and Prophet'' that was extremely enthusiastic about its subject, and was recommended to the publisher by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

. The book did not circulate widely as the publisher, Grant Richards, went bankrupt soon after publication, but it was read by

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

, who was strongly influenced by Nietzschean ideas, as can be seen in his poetry. From 1903 to 1916 Common produced a quarterly journal called ''Notes for Good Europeans'' (later titled ''The Good European Point of View''), with the purpose of increasing public interest in Nietzsche.

References

External links

* * * * Scottish translators German–English translators 1850 births 1919 deaths Nietzsche scholars Translators of Friedrich Nietzsche {{Scotland-translator-stub