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Part of
Transnational Books for Children 1750-1900: Producers, consumers, encounters
Edited by Charlotte Appel, Nina Christensen and M.O. Grenby
[Children’s Literature, Culture, and Cognition 15] 2023
► pp. 250–272

Chapter 11
Translating, transforming, and targeting books for children

Author and publisher Morten Hallager as a transnational agent in Late Enlightenment Denmark

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.

Article outline
  • A spectrum of translations and adaptations
  • Late Enlightenment Denmark
  • Morten Hallager and his book business
  • Translations and adaptations as default
  • Minor and moderate interventions
  • Major interventions in works by one author
  • Compilations and own compositions
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 August 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clcc.15.11app
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