Samuel Putnam

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Samuel Putnam (1892-1950) was an American translator and scholar of Romance languages. He was known for his Leftist leanings (he was a columnist for "The Daily Worker"). His most famous work is his 1949 English translation of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote. It is the first version of the work in what we would consider contemporary English; although there is still use of archaic language in the translation, it is more restricted than in earlier English versions of the work. The language is formal when spoken by educated characters, but seldom old-fashioned, while the peasant characters speak in colloquial modern English. Putnam worked on the translation for twelve years before he published it. He also published a companion volume, The Portable Cervantes, which included an abridged version of his translation of Don Quixote, as well as new translations of two of Cervantes' Novelas Ejemplares.

Putnam followed the pattern of John Ormsby, the 1885 translator of "Don Quixote", in prefacing his own translation with an extensive introduction that included his critical analysis of the novel and its previous translations, an outline of the principles he followed in making the translation, and a brief biography of the author. The Putnam translation is one of the most acclaimed versions of Don Quixote ever published, and has seldom been out of print since its publication nearly sixty years ago.

Putnam was the father of noted American philosopher Hilary Putnam.

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This article used information contained in: http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521012546&ss=exc, and the edition of Don Quixote de la Mancha translated by Samuel Putnam, especially the "Translator's Introduction" by Mr. Putnam (Modern Library: 1998 Edition).