Chapter 11. Translating, transforming, and targeting books for children

Abstract

This chapter investigates the work of Morten Hallager (1740–1803), one of the most productive figures in the emerging market for children’s books in Denmark. With strong language skills in German and French, know-how as a former printer, and a career as a schoolmaster, he had important qualifications and experiences for transmitting books and transforming them for a Danish audience. Based on analyses of 38 publications for children by Hallager, mostly from the 1790s, the chapter demonstrates the importance of analysing different variables and dimensions, when mapping translation practices, not least the number of source texts and the degree of “localization”. Being shaped by, and taking advantage of, specific developments in Denmark, Hallager needs also to be seen as one of many European transnational agents dealing with children’s books during the late Enlightenment.