THE SOULMANCE COLLECTION
Sources & Copyright
Words mean more when their origins are clear. Each sourced quotation names its writer and links to the text from which it was selected. These are selected passages, not complete works.
Franz Kafka
The Kafka collection uses the original German text of Betrachtung (Contemplation), printed in November 1912 with a 1913 title page, and the 1917 edition of Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis), first published in 1915.
The English passages are new translations prepared for this collection directly from those German texts. They are labelled as translations, with the original German available on each quote page. They are not presented as the wording of an existing English translator.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Dostoevsky selections use Constance Garnett’s historical English translations. Garnett died in 1946. The credited texts are drawn from the editions below, rather than from contemporary translations or quote compilations.
- The Brothers Karamazov, translated by Constance Garnett
- Crime and Punishment, translated by Constance Garnett
- Notes from the Underground, translated by Constance Garnett
The classic collection
The starting collection of 500 classic quotations comes from John Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, ninth edition, 1905 printing. Each quotation credits its author and links to the historical source.
Familiar Quotations, source edition
Reading quotations in context
Many passages are spoken or thought by fictional characters. Crediting the novelist identifies the writer of the work, not necessarily a personal belief held by that writer. Quote pages include context where it helps identify the speaker or scene.
Historical spelling and punctuation are retained in the quoted English editions. New translations can differ from other valid translations. Source links let readers compare the passage with its surrounding text.
Copyright and reuse
The Kafka and Dostoevsky selections above were checked against public domain historical texts. The new Kafka translations are identified separately. Soulmance makes no claim to exclusive copyright in the underlying public domain works.
Copyright status depends on the particular text, translation, edition and applicable law. A modern translation, introduction, illustration or editorial addition can have its own copyright even when the original work is public domain. Crediting an author, changing a few words or adding a disclaimer does not by itself give permission to reproduce protected material.
Source links are provided for verification. A link to an external edition does not mean that every edition or every item on that website is available for unrestricted reuse.
Read guidance on copyright duration · Read the Berne Convention, including protection for translations