“The Strange Case of Machado De Assis and the Noonday Press: Rights and Publicity in English Translation”

Abstract

The present article adds to the growing literature on the publication of Machado de Assis in English translation. Along with the classic problems inherent in translation, such as word choice and meaning, there are issues regarding copyright and publicity: the right to print and the means of promoting and selling books, both crucial to the story of Machado in English. The question of book sales was never one of large numbers or best-seller lists. Nevertheless, this article uses archival material to show that the publisher, Cecil Hemley, and his translators, including Helen Caldwell in particular, tried their best in improvised and opportunistic ways during the 1950s to generate interest and foment sales. Before they could do this, they also had to contend with the thorny question of copyright. Finally, the article follows the fate of these translations after the Noonday Press was acquired by Farrar Straus in 1960.