Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-04-21
THE SECOND BEST SELLER
Robinson Crusoe" Exceeded Only BY
the Bible in Every Language.

The best seller of all the books in
the world, past and present, with the
single exception Of the Bible, is Rob
continues to hold it's own as a piece
of the most engrossing literature pub
lished, just as it did when Daniel De
Foe first published it on April 25, 11l9.
child find an equal delight in the ad-
ventures of that famous castaway Of
fiction, and every civilized country in
the world has it's own special transla-
tion of the work. But it has remained
for a Philadelphian, William S. Lloyd,
of Germantown, to gather together
specimens of every edition published,
forming the most complete collection
Of Robinson CruSoeS" in existence.
Mr. Lloyd has had his agents col
past. These agents have orders to buy
any rare copy or any new translation.
This work has resulted in the collec
tion in the Crusoe Library owned by
Mr. Lloyd of over 800 volumes Of the
adventures of the island hero. The
books are printed in every living Ian
guage, and even in some dead ones,
for Mr.. Lloyd has copies of Robinson
Crusoe" in Latin and Greek, though
why the work was translated into
that the owner of these rare books
himself cannot solve.
Among the thirty-thr languages
represented in the Lloyd Crusoe col
lection are Crusoes printed in Eng
lish, German, French, Spanish, Rus
sian, Chinese, Japanese, Norwegian,
Swedish, Kroatisch, Italian, Polish,
Roumanian, Lettish, Slavonic, F1em-
ish, Urdu, Dutch, Bohemian, Bornean,
Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew,
Yiddish, Greek and Latin.
Each nation as it appropriated the
story Of Robinson Crusoe appropriated
to itself the hero also Thus in the
French copies Of the work Crusoe is
depicted as a FrenChman; when the
Germans read about the well-remem
bered slaughter of the cannibal visi-
tors to Crusoes island they swell with
pride at the thought that Crusoe was
a German, while the Spaniard knows
him only as a native of old Spain, and
| the Russian recognizes in him fell
low subject Of the cZar. And so on
with all the nationalities represented
Crusoe is never an Englishman except
to the English speaking people.
Perhaps the most striking feature Of
the rare volumes in the collection is
the work of the artists Of the various
periods and of the various countries.
The French artist who illustrated an
as the theme for his frontispiece Rob-
inson Crusoe giving thanks for his
deliverance from the waves. 1t will
be noted that the Castaway has made
his way through the angry pillows
from the wrecked ship without losing
the neat parting in his hair Neither
has he found it necessary TO discard
his ball room slippers to facilitate his
| natatOrial struggles. He also has held
on with commendable tenacity to his
pretty flowing necktie and his hand
| some sash. His entire wardrobe seems
to have suffered no damage at all from
his encounter with the raging waters
Had there been a ball in progress
| when CrusOe stepped on his island he
could have walked right out Of this
French edition onto the waXed floor Of
the dance hall without arousing any
suspicion Of his recent adventures.
Another creation of a French artist
shows Crusoe clinging for dear life to
a rock, while the waves threaten him
from every side. 1t is difficult to tell
| from the artists sketch whence the
waves are coming from. They seem.
in fact, to be beating from the shore
instead of from the sea. How Crusoe
| ever escaped from such all l-encom-
passing waves is difficult to imagine.
Neither it is possible to reconcile
the American boys idea of Crusoe
with the hero depicted by Portu-
guese edition of the book. In a fanci-
full conception by a Portuguese artist
which is intended to represent Cru
soes dream. the castaway is shown