How do I find all existing translations of a book?
I want to find all existing translations of a book.
Search UNESCO's Index Translationum
Index Translationum compiles statistics on translations published in the 20th century. The online index covers the 1990s through 2010s; for earlier years you must consult the print volumes. The completeness of the information depends on individual countries, who are responsible for reporting data to UNESCO about translated works published in their countries.
Search Library Catalogs
HOLLIS, Harvard Library's catalog, searches our extensive collections, including many translations.
WorldCat is a union (aggregated) catalog that includes records from many libraries around the world and almost all libraries in the United States. Libraries are responsible for reporting data about their collections to WorldCat.
WorldCat: FirstSearch (requires HarvardKey) is a different WorldCat interface that offers additional options for precision searching.
Search tips
Note: none of these methods will find everything, due to variations in cataloging practices.
- Search by author name and/or by the work's original title (in the original language of publication)
- Filter your search by language of publication. Depending on the search interface, you may have the option to exclude the original language of publication from your results; beware that this will also exclude multilingual editions.
- To find a general variety of translations, search by subject = "translations into". HOLLIS offers the additional option to search by form/genre = "translations".
- To find translations into a specific language, search HOLLIS or (less reliably) WorldCat for "Title. Language." Use the original title and the English word for the language. Example: "Roman de la Rose. Arabic"
- For facing-page translations, add "facing" as a keyword to your search. Example: author=Tacitus AND keyword = facing
Inquire with the rightsholder
For publications from the 20th century onward, another source of information is the publisher or copyright holder, who would have negotiated rights to any authorized translations. The Texas "WATCH" file is a database of copyright holders and their contact info and has general advice on locating rightsholders.
Translations of the Bible
- Harvard Divinity School Library services - FAQ Where may I find a variety of English Bible translations?
- Widener card catalog for Bible translations - located in the West Stacks Reading Room
- The Bible in English is an excellent resource for translations into English, especially early translations
Translations of Poems
- Columbia Granger's World of Poetry Online is a great source for individual poems translated from other languages into English. Navigate to "Poetry Sources" to browse by language, e.g. Danish Poetry.
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