H. T. Lowe-Porter - Thomas Mann Translations

Thomas Mann Translations

Lowe-Porter's translations of Thomas Mann works include the following (dates in brackets refer to the German publication, the dates after to the English-language translations).

• Buddenbrooks 1924
• The Magic Mountain 1927
• Death in Venice 1930
• Mario and the Magician 1931
• Joseph and His Brothers, comprising:
  • I The Tales of Jacob 1934
  • II Young Joseph 1935
  • III Joseph in Egypt 1938
  • IV Joseph the Provider 1944
• Stories of Three Decades 1936
• The Beloved Returns 1940
• The Transposed Heads 1941
• Essays of Three Decades 1947
• Doctor Faustus 1948
• The Holy Sinner 1951
• A Sketch of My Life 1960

Initially, Lowe-Porter was not Mann's first choice as translator, or "mediator" (Vermittler), in his own term, of his works. Mann had initially wanted Herman George Scheffauer, who had previously translated Mann's short story "Herr und Hund" (as "Bashan and I"). In addition, Mann had received negative reports of Lowe-Porter's translation of Buddenbrooks. However, the American publisher Alfred A Knopf overruled Mann's concerns and selected Lowe-Porter as sole translator of Mann's works into English. Lowe-Porter fulfilled this task for the next 25 years, translating all of Mann's later fiction except for "Die Betrogene" ("The Black Swan") and Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man.