Recent from talks
Mein Kampf in English
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Mein Kampf in English
Since the early 1930s, the history of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf in English has been complicated and has been the occasion for controversy. Four full translations were completed before 1945, as well as a number of extracts in newspapers, pamphlets, government documents and unpublished typescripts. Not all of these had official approval from Hitler's publishers, Eher Verlag.
Since the war, the 1943 Ralph Manheim translation has been the most commonly published translation, though Manheim later expressed reservations about his translation, and other versions have continued to circulate.
Eher Verlag took steps to secure the copyright and trademark rights to Mein Kampf in the United States in 1925 and 1927. In 1928, the literary agency Curtis Brown, Limited secured the assignment for negotiation of translation rights in the United States and Great Britain, and a German copy was picked up by their employee, Cherry Kearton.[citation needed] However, the firm found it difficult to interest publishers in the 782-page book by the leader of what was then an obscure splinter party in Germany. Even after the elections of September 1930, when the Nazi Party became the second largest party in the Reichstag, publishers were cautious about investing in a translation, due to the Great Depression.
The same election inspired Blanche Dugdale to urge her husband, E.T.S. Dugdale, to write an abridgement of Mein Kampf. Dugdale began his work on this abridgement in about 1931, but he, too, was unable to find a publisher for it. In early 1933, at the time of the Nazi seizure of power in Germany, Dugdale apparently contacted Eher Verlag, who referred him to Kearton, now working for the firm of Hurst and Blackett. The latter firm was in the process of buying the translation rights from Curtis Brown for a sum of £350. Dugdale offered the abridgment to Hurst & Blackett free of charge, with the stipulation that his name not be used for the British edition. Before the book could go to press, however, Hurst and Blackett were visited by Dr. Hans Wilhelm Thost, London correspondent of the Völkischer Beobachter and an active member of the "Nazi organization" in London. Although Eher Verlag was satisfied with Dugdale's abridgement, Thost insisted on taking a copy to Berlin for further censoring and official sanction. The abridgement was finally published in October 1933. Titled My Struggle the book was published as the second number in the Paternoster Library.
In the United States, Houghton Mifflin secured the rights to the Dugdale abridgement on 29 July 1933. The only differences between the American and British versions are that the title was translated My Struggle in the UK and My Battle in America; and that Dugdale is credited as translator in the US edition, while the British version withheld his name. The original price was $3.00 (equivalent to $75 in 2025).
In January 1937, Houghton Mifflin published a second edition after the first sold out. The price was lowered to $2.50 (equivalent to $56 in 2025). The publishers replaced the old dust jacket that showed Hitler giving his salute over a black and white background with a new one with panels of black, red, and yellow and a quotation from Dorothy Thompson. This led to an official protest by the Nazi government, as the black-red-yellow color scheme was emblematic of the liberal German revolutions of 1848–49 and the Weimar Republic, while the Nazis had returned to the black, white, red of the German Empire. Thompson's quotation was also objected to, as she had been expelled from the Reich in 1934 after writing unflattering accounts of Hitler. The affair lasted into March 1937. Houghton Mifflin agreed to change the yellow to white, but it is unknown whether the Dorothy Thompson quotation was ever removed.
The first printing was a deluxe 18-shilling (equivalent to £56 in 2025) book that sold out its 5,000 copies and was never reprinted. The popular edition cost 3s. 6d. (equivalent to £11 in 2025) and each print run was about 1,750 copies. Below is a table of available sales figures of the Dugdale abridgment in the United Kingdom. "On hand" here means on hand at the beginning of the year. The commission was payable to Curtis Brown as literary agent, and the tax to Inland Revenue.
The first printing of the U.S. Dugdale edition was 7,603 copies, of which 290 were given away as complimentary gifts. The royalty on the first printing in the U.S. was 15% or $3,206.45 total. Curtis Brown, literary agent, took 20%, or $641.20 total, and the IRS took $384.75, leaving Eher Verlag $2,180.37 or RM 5,668.
Hub AI
Mein Kampf in English AI simulator
(@Mein Kampf in English_simulator)
Mein Kampf in English
Since the early 1930s, the history of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf in English has been complicated and has been the occasion for controversy. Four full translations were completed before 1945, as well as a number of extracts in newspapers, pamphlets, government documents and unpublished typescripts. Not all of these had official approval from Hitler's publishers, Eher Verlag.
Since the war, the 1943 Ralph Manheim translation has been the most commonly published translation, though Manheim later expressed reservations about his translation, and other versions have continued to circulate.
Eher Verlag took steps to secure the copyright and trademark rights to Mein Kampf in the United States in 1925 and 1927. In 1928, the literary agency Curtis Brown, Limited secured the assignment for negotiation of translation rights in the United States and Great Britain, and a German copy was picked up by their employee, Cherry Kearton.[citation needed] However, the firm found it difficult to interest publishers in the 782-page book by the leader of what was then an obscure splinter party in Germany. Even after the elections of September 1930, when the Nazi Party became the second largest party in the Reichstag, publishers were cautious about investing in a translation, due to the Great Depression.
The same election inspired Blanche Dugdale to urge her husband, E.T.S. Dugdale, to write an abridgement of Mein Kampf. Dugdale began his work on this abridgement in about 1931, but he, too, was unable to find a publisher for it. In early 1933, at the time of the Nazi seizure of power in Germany, Dugdale apparently contacted Eher Verlag, who referred him to Kearton, now working for the firm of Hurst and Blackett. The latter firm was in the process of buying the translation rights from Curtis Brown for a sum of £350. Dugdale offered the abridgment to Hurst & Blackett free of charge, with the stipulation that his name not be used for the British edition. Before the book could go to press, however, Hurst and Blackett were visited by Dr. Hans Wilhelm Thost, London correspondent of the Völkischer Beobachter and an active member of the "Nazi organization" in London. Although Eher Verlag was satisfied with Dugdale's abridgement, Thost insisted on taking a copy to Berlin for further censoring and official sanction. The abridgement was finally published in October 1933. Titled My Struggle the book was published as the second number in the Paternoster Library.
In the United States, Houghton Mifflin secured the rights to the Dugdale abridgement on 29 July 1933. The only differences between the American and British versions are that the title was translated My Struggle in the UK and My Battle in America; and that Dugdale is credited as translator in the US edition, while the British version withheld his name. The original price was $3.00 (equivalent to $75 in 2025).
In January 1937, Houghton Mifflin published a second edition after the first sold out. The price was lowered to $2.50 (equivalent to $56 in 2025). The publishers replaced the old dust jacket that showed Hitler giving his salute over a black and white background with a new one with panels of black, red, and yellow and a quotation from Dorothy Thompson. This led to an official protest by the Nazi government, as the black-red-yellow color scheme was emblematic of the liberal German revolutions of 1848–49 and the Weimar Republic, while the Nazis had returned to the black, white, red of the German Empire. Thompson's quotation was also objected to, as she had been expelled from the Reich in 1934 after writing unflattering accounts of Hitler. The affair lasted into March 1937. Houghton Mifflin agreed to change the yellow to white, but it is unknown whether the Dorothy Thompson quotation was ever removed.
The first printing was a deluxe 18-shilling (equivalent to £56 in 2025) book that sold out its 5,000 copies and was never reprinted. The popular edition cost 3s. 6d. (equivalent to £11 in 2025) and each print run was about 1,750 copies. Below is a table of available sales figures of the Dugdale abridgment in the United Kingdom. "On hand" here means on hand at the beginning of the year. The commission was payable to Curtis Brown as literary agent, and the tax to Inland Revenue.
The first printing of the U.S. Dugdale edition was 7,603 copies, of which 290 were given away as complimentary gifts. The royalty on the first printing in the U.S. was 15% or $3,206.45 total. Curtis Brown, literary agent, took 20%, or $641.20 total, and the IRS took $384.75, leaving Eher Verlag $2,180.37 or RM 5,668.