Hello and thanks

[ponder-irl.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'd just like to introduce myself briefly: I'm an undergrad student from Ireland, in my final year of a B.A. in English and History.  I'm writing my final year dissertation (a short thesis, about 12,000 words) on the influence by J.J. Rousseau on Robespierre's life and career.  I'd just like to say thanks for translating Charlotte Robespierre's memoirs, which I've just found after searching for an English copy for a about 6 months! So thanks to whoever did that...

Now that I'm here, I have a question.  Does anyone know if it's possible to find an English translation of Robespierre's Ouevres Complete, or at least part of it?  I've been looking for that for ages too, and had pretty much given up, but finding Charlotte's memoirs has given me renewed hope.  Any information or advice would be hugely appreciated.  I've been finding it extremely hard to get primary sources about the French revolution that have been translated into English, and I'm afraid my project will suffer as a result.

Thanks again!

Comments

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Speaking as the translator of Charlotte Robespierre's memoirs and also as someone who knows quite a bit about the availability of translations, I'm sorry to say that no one has yet translated Robespierre's Oeuvres complètes. It's something I plan to do myself at some point, but unfortunately not in time to be of use for your purposes. (However, there are places where some of Robespierre's speeches are published in English...)

You're quite welcome for the translation of Charlotte's memoirs though.

[ponder-irl.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reply - I thought as much as regards Robespierre. I'll just have to learn French! These are the primary sources written by Robespierre I've found so far: http://www.marxists.org/history/france/revolution/robespierre/index.htm (that's the most complete list I could find - I've actually been looking at the same stuff from other websites for a while) I'm going to go to Trinity College Library in Dublin next week for a few days to have a look, but I'd be very suprised if I find anything of use, primary sources anyway. I know this might be a bit cheeky, but do you know off the top of your head of any other documents of Robespierre's, besides what is in the list above, that have been translated into English? If you don't ask you can't find out, right? ;)

Thanks again!

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Yes, learning French is probably a good idea in the long run for studying the French Revolution. In the meanwhile, I actually do know of a few places you might look for more material in translation though. As far as books go, George Rudé published a collection of primary source documents on Robespierre (not to be confused with his biography of the same), and just recently Slavoj Zizek came out with a collection of Robespierre's notable speeches. Other than that, there are some translations on robespierre.org.uk, though not having read them very carefully I can't vouch for their quality. Also, there might be something of use here (http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/searchfr.php?function=find&keyword=robespierre), though it might take some sifting to find it.