Wyss, Johann David Von
Entry updated 28 April 2025. Tagged: Author.
(1743-1818) Swiss philosopher and author, of sf interest for Der Schweizerische Robinson (1812-1813; trans William Godwin as The Family Robinson Crusoe 1814) [for subtitles of original and trans see Checklist below], a nonfantastic tale which nevertheless – together with the tale which inspired it, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) – served as a central model for sf tales of the Colonization of Other Worlds (see Imperialism), the tropical Island setting gradually becoming populated with an enormous range of species, rather like an Ark. The book was frequently expanded, modified, adapted, and translated, sometimes competently, the best additions tending to be by its French translator Isabelle Pauline de Montolieu (1751-1832); these editions are not listed below. For a fuller discussion, see Robinsonade. Wyss is sometimes confused with his son Johan Rudolf Wyss (1781-1830), who edited the MS of The Swiss Family Robinson and himself published the first edition of the final book. Its original English translator William Godwin (1756-1836) was Mary Shelley's father. [JC]
Johann David Wyss
born Bern, Switzerland: 4 March 1743
died Bern, Switzerland: 11 January 1818
works
- Der Schweizerische Robinson; oder Der schiffbrüchige Schweizer-Prediger und seine Familie: ein lehrreiches Buch für Kinder und Kinderfreunde zu Stadt under Land (Zurich, Switzerland: Orell, Füssli und Compagnie/Johann Rudolf Wyss, 1812-1813) [published in two volumes: binding unknown/]
- The Family Robinson Crusoe: Or, Journal of a Father Shipwrecked, with his Wife and Children, on an Uninhabited Island. Translated from the German (London: M J Godwin and Company, 1814) [published in two volumes: trans by William Godwin of the above: binding unknown/]
- The Family Robinson Crusoe or Swiss Family Robinson (London: M J Godwin and Company, 1816) [exp vt of the above: published in two volumes: first edition to introduce the now-standard title: binding unknown/]
- The Family Robinson Crusoe: Or, Journal of a Father Shipwrecked, with his Wife and Children, on an Uninhabited Island. Translated from the German (London: M J Godwin and Company, 1814) [published in two volumes: trans by William Godwin of the above: binding unknown/]
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