Different versions of Dickens - help!

[Hollybutnoivy]

Hello. I am currently reading Oliver Twist and was looking at two versions on Kindle - they are really very different to each other! I can't find where they come from or whether they are taken from different publications (the serial publication versus the book publication?) For example - the first book is this one:

www.amazon.it/Oliver-Twist-English-Charles-Dickens-ebook/dp/B08RCYJFXD/ref=sr_1_7?__mk_it_IT=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=oliver+twist&qid=1610190248&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin%3A509817031&rnid=509815031&s=books&sr=1-7

Here Mr Sowerberry refers to his wife as "My pricey" and "My expensive" whereas in this version:

www.amazon.it/Oliver-Twist-English-Charles-Dickens-ebook/dp/B000JQUT8S/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_it_IT=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=oliver+twist+inglese&qid=1610190401&rnid=1640607031&s=books&sr=1-1

he refers to her as "My dear".

The second version is far easier to read - the first version seems rather eccentric. Any Dickens experts out there who can explain what is going on exactly? There is no explanation on Amazon. Thanks!

Are you in Italy? Can you see what the kindle editions of Oliver Twist are like on Amazon UK?

Thanks. Yes I am in Italy and I can't order off the UK site. It was really just curiosity though - I can't find the first book I linked to above on the UK site and I want to know why it is so different!

My first thought was that one was an edited version that had had archaic language modernised to make it easier to read but having looked at it, I don't think that is the case.

Dickens' works are in the public domain, they are out of copyright. That means anyone can publish his books.

It looks like someone has taken an Italian translation of Oliver Twist, then used machine translation to translate it back into English to sell for a quick buck. I think the first version has been edited by Google Translate Hence "dear" becomes "pricey" and "expensive".

Funnily enough, there were no copyright laws when the books were written. Bootleg copies and plagiarised versions by other authors were widespread.

It looks like someone has taken an Italian translation of Oliver Twist, then used machine translation to translate it back into English to sell for a quick buck. I think the first version has been edited by Google Translate grin Hence "dear" becomes "pricey" and "expensive".

I think you might be right but why not just use a free version in English? It's so strange. Another example that would fit this is when Oliver is asked "How old are yer?" In the weird version he is asked "How vintare are yer?" I thought it was a Dickensian way of talking but probably not!

How vintage are yer?

That was what I thought. It's an Italian version that has been translated back into English.

I have sent an email to Amazon about it - I'll update when they reply. Luckily I didn't buy it!

I think you might be right but why not just use a free version in English?

Yes, it seems mad . I think it's a legal issue. You can't just swipe someone's kindle version and sell it as your own in the same way that you couldn't just photocopy the Penguin Classics Oliver Twist and sell it. Dickens' text might be in the public domain but if someone has written additional material, edited and formatted a book, they can copyright that (see screenshot). I guess machine translating it is probably one of the easiest and quickest ways to create your own version of a book

"How vintage are you?" perhaps they should change it to "What vintage are you?!"

Funnily enough, there were no copyright laws when the books were written.

That's not true. There were a number of copyright laws pre-Dickens, famously and firstly the Statute of Anne in 1710, then subsequent reforms. A few years after Oliver Twist, the new copyright Act extended the term to the life of the author + seven years (or else a fixed term), which is similar to modern law but shorter.

The copyright problem Dickens had was only in America, which refused to recognise copyright of non-American authors.