Sarah Austin (translator)
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Sarah Austin ( Taylor; 1793–1867) was an English editor, linguist and translator from German-language books. She did much to make Germany familiar to the English.


Life

Born Sarah Taylor in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, England in 1793, she was the youngest child of John Taylor, a yarn maker and hymn writer from a locally well-known Unitarian family. Her education was overseen by her mother, Susannah Taylor. She became conversant in Latin, French, German and Italian. Her six brothers and sisters included Edward Taylor (1784–1863), a singer and music professor, John Taylor (1779–1863), a mining engineer, Richard Taylor (1781–1858), a printer and editor and publisher of scientific works. Family friends included Dr
James Alderson Sir James Alderson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (30 December 1794 – 13 September 1882) was an English physician born and based in Kingston upon Hull. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians. Biography Alderson was the younger s ...
and his daughter
Amelia Opie Amelia Opie (née Alderson; 12 November 1769 – 2 December 1853) was an English author who published numerous novels in the Romantic period up to 1828. Opie was also a leading abolitionist in Norwich, England. Hers was the first of 187,000 nam ...
,
Henry Crabb Robinson Henry Crabb Robinson (13 May 1775 – 5 February 1867) was an English lawyer, remembered as a diarist. He took part in founding London University. Life Robinson was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, third and youngest son of Henry Robinson (17 ...
, the banking
Gurney A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...
s and
Sir James Mackintosh Sir James Mackintosh FRS FRSE (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor and barrister, and worked also as a jo ...
. Sarah grew up to be an attractive woman. She caused surprise by marrying
John Austin John Austin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John P. Austin (1906–1997), American set decorator * Johnny Austin (1910–1983), American musician * John Austin (author) (fl. 1940s), British novelist Military * John Austin (soldier) (180 ...
(1790–1859) on 24 August 1819. During the first years of their married life they lived a wide social life in Queen's Square, Westminster.
John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
testified the esteem he felt for her by the title of ''Mutter'', by which he always addressed her.
Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...
was also in their circle. She travelled widely, for instance to
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
and
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
. According to a modern scholar, Austin "tended to be austere, reclusive, and insecure, while she was very determined, ambitious, energetic, gregarious, and warm. Indeed her affections were so starved that in the early 1830s she had a most unusual 'affair' with Hermann Pückler-Muskau, a German prince whose work she translated. It was conducted solely in letters – she did not meet him until their passions had cooled." The only child of the Austins' marriage,
Lucie Lucie is the French and Czech form of the female name Lucia. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Lucie Ahl, British tennis player * Lucie Arnaz, American actress * Lucie Aubrac, member of the French Resistance * Lucie Balthaz ...
, was likewise a translator of German works. She married Alexander Duff-Gordon. Her 1843 translation of ''Stories of the Gods and Heroes of Greece'' by
Barthold Georg Niebuhr Barthold Georg Niebuhr (27 August 1776 – 2 January 1831) was a Danish–German statesman, banker, and historian who became Germany's leading historian of Ancient Rome and a founding father of modern scholarly historiography. By 1810 Niebuhr wa ...
was erroneously ascribed to her mother. The family history was recorded in ''Three Generations of English Women'' (1893), by Sarah Taylor's granddaughter,
Janet Ross Janet Ann Ross (1842–1927) was an English historian, biographer, and Tuscan cookbook author. Early life Janet Duff Gordon was the daughter of Sir Alexander Duff-Gordon and Lucie, Lady Duff-Gordon. Her father held a number of government po ...
.


Works

Austin was initially encouraged as an author by the American John Neal, who sent her first works to the ''
Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...
''. Her writing and literary translations soon became important sources of income for her and her husband. She did much to promote her husband's works in his life and published a collection of his lectures on
jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
after he died. In 1833, she published ''Selections from the Old Testament,'' arranged under heads to illustrate the religion, morality, and poetry of the Hebrew Scriptures. "My sole object," she wrote in the preface, "has been to put together all that presented itself to my own heart and mind as most persuasive, consolatory, or elevating, in such a form and order as to be easy of reference, conveniently arranged and divided, and freed from matter either hard to be understood, unattractive, or unprofitable (to say the least) for young and pure eyes." In the same year, she published one of the translations by which she is best known: ''Characteristics of Goethe from the German of Falk, Von Müller, and others,'' with valuable original notes, illustrative of
German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy a ...
. Her own criticisms are few, but highly relevant. In 1834, Austin translated ''The Story without an End'' by
Friedrich Wilhelm Carové Friedrich Wilhelm Carové (June 20, 1789 – March 18, 1852) was a German philosopher and publicist. Biography He was a lawyer, held some judicial offices, was made doctor of philosophy by the University of Heidelberg, and officiated for a short ...
, which was often reprinted. In the same year she translated the famous report on the ''State of Public Instruction in Prussia,'' addressed by
Victor Cousin Victor Cousin (; 28 November 179214 January 1867) was a French philosopher. He was the founder of "eclecticism", a briefly influential school of French philosophy that combined elements of German idealism and Scottish Common Sense Realism. As ...
to
Marthe Camille Bachasson, Count of Montalivet Marthe Camille Bachasson, 3rd Count of Montalivet (24 April 1801, Valence – 4 January 1880, Saint-Bouize) was a French statesman and a Peer of France. Biography Second son of Jean-Pierre Bachasson, 1st count of Montalivet (1766–1823), p ...
, minister of public instruction. The preface pleads eloquently for the cause of national education. "Society," she says, "is no longer a calm current, but a tossing sea; reverence for tradition, for authority, is gone. In such a state of things who can deny the absolute necessity of national education?" In 1839 she returned to the subject in a pamphlet, first published as an article in the ''Foreign Quarterly Review'', where she argued from the experience of Prussia and France for the need to establish a national system of education in England. One of her last publications (1859) were two letters addressed to the '' Athenæum'', on girls' schools and on the training of working women, which show she had modified her opinions. Speaking of the old village schools, she admits that the teachers possessed little book lore. They were often widows "better versed in the toils and troubles of life than in chemistry or astronomy.... But the wiser among them taught the great lessons of obedience, reverence for honoured eld, industry, neatness, decent order, and other virtues of their sex and stations," and trained their pupils to be the wives of working men. In 1827 Mrs Austin left with her husband for Germany and settled in
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
. She collected in her long residence abroad materials for her 1854 work ''Germany from 1760 to 1814,'' which still holds a place as an interesting, thoughtful survey of German institutions and manners. In the autumn of 1836 she accompanied her husband to Malta, busying herself while there with investigations into the remains of Maltese art. They returned to Germany, then passed to Paris, where they remained until driven home by the
revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
. In 1840 she translated
Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...
's ''History of the Popes'', which was warmly praised by
Thomas Babington Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 184 ...
and
Henry Hart Milman Henry Hart Milman (10 February 1791 – 24 September 1868) was an English historian and ecclesiastic. Life He was born in London, the third son of Sir Francis Milman, 1st Baronet, physician to King George III (see Milman Baronets). Educat ...
. When the translation appeared, her intimate friend Sir
George Cornewall Lewis Sir George Cornewall Lewis, 2nd Baronet, (21 April 180613 April 1863) was a British statesman and man of letters. He is best known for preserving neutrality in 1862 when the British cabinet debated intervention in the American Civil War. Early ...
wrote to her: "Murray is very desirous that you should undertake some original work. Do you feel a 'Beruf' of this sort?" However, she felt no such "Beruf" (calling) and most of her subsequent works were translations. After her husband's death in 1859 Sarah Austin produced a coherent, near-complete edition of his ''Lectures on Jurisprudence'', a huge task that required assembling his scattered notes and marginalia. Her modesty about her contribution to her husband's publications was recognized only by later authors. She also edited the ''Memoirs of
Sydney Smith Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English wit, writer, and Anglican cleric. Early life and education Born in Woodford, Essex, England, Smith was the son of merchant Robert Smith (1739–1827) and Maria Olier (1750–1801), ...
'' (1855) and ''Lady Duff-Gordon's Letters from Egypt'' (1865). Sarah Austin's style is clear, unaffected and forcible. She adopted a high standard for the duties of a translator and sought to conform to it rigorously. "It has been my invariable practice," she said, "as soon as I have engaged to translate a work, to write to the author of it, announcing my intention, and adding that if he has any correction, omission, or addition to make, he might depend on my paying attention to his suggestions." She did much to make the best minds of Germany familiar to Englishmen and she left a literary reputation due as much to her conversation and correspondence with illustrious men of letters as to her works. Here is a list of her other principal works, not named so far: *''Translation of a Tour in England, Ireland, and France by a German Prince,'' (London, 1832), after
Pückler The House of Pückler, with branches named Pückler-Muskau, Pückler-Burghauss (Pückler-Burghauß), Pückler-Limpurg and Pückler-Groditz, was an old and influential German noble family which originated from Silesia. The Imperial County of Pü ...
's ''Briefe eines Verstorbenen'' *''Translation of Raumer's England in 1835,'' 1836 *''Fragments from German Prose Writers,'' 1841 *''History of the Reformation in Germany'' and ''History of the Popes'' (1840), from the German of
Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...
*''Sketches of Germany from 1760 to 1814'' (1854), dealing with political and social circumstances during that period. *Translation of
François Guizot François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (; 4 October 1787 – 12 September 1874) was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848. A conservative liberal who opposed the a ...
on the ''Causes of the Success of the English Revolution,'' 1850 *''Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans,'' 1859 *''Lady Duff Gordon's Letters from Egypt,'' edited by Mrs. Austin, 1865 *''Letters of Sydney Smith,'' 1855 (second volume of Lady Holland's Life and Letters)


Death

Sarah Austin died at
Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...
, Surrey, on 8 August 1867. She was buried beside her husband in the Weybridge churchyard. Her estate, worth less than £5000, received probate on 28 August 1867 through her executor son-in-law, Sir Alexander Cornewall Duff-Gordon.


References

;Attribution * *


Sources

*


External links


ODNB entry for Sarah Austin
Retrieved 4 January 2012. Subscription required. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Sarah 1793 births 1867 deaths Writers from Norwich English book editors German–English translators French–English translators 19th-century British translators 19th-century British women writers