Translations

Under construction

For each French title listed below there is an entry for each separate English translation with the following information: Original date of translation, Translator (if known) and Publisher. Different editions of a specific translation have only been included if there were significant differences between them.

Much of the information for the early translations is taken from Graham King’s Garden of Zola (1978) which is a great source of information for these early English translations. Many of the older translations are in the public domain and links to these English Translations Of Works Of Émile Zola can be found at Project Gutenberg. For many, especially the Rougon-Macquart novels, a modern translation is preferable if available.

Many of the public domain translations are by the Vizetelly family and are quite dated. Henry Vizetelly (1820-94) was fined and imprisoned for three months in 1889 over the publication of La Terre, which was considered offensive. Subsequent editions of all of Zola’s novels were heavily edited by his son Ernest Vizetelly (1853-1922) in order to avoid further prosecutions. Hence there are often two ‘Vizetelly’ versions; those published after 1889 are generally considered inferior to those published before 1889.

Novels

Early Novels

• La Confession de Claude (1865)
  • Claude’s Confession (1888, Tr: George D. Cox, Temple Co.)
  • Claude’s Confession (1892, Tr: unknown, Crawford & Co.)
• Le Voeu d’une morte (1866)
  • A Dead Woman’s Wish (1902, Tr: Count C.S. de Soissons, Greening & Co.)
• Les Mystères de Marseille (1867)
  • The Mysteries of Marseilles (1895, Tr: Edward Vizetelly, Hutchinson & Co.)
• Thérèse Raquin (1867)
  • Thérèse Raquin (1887, Tr: Edward Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • Therese Raquin (1902, Tr: Edward Vizetelly, Grant Richards)
  • Theresa (1952, Tr: unknown, Corgi Books)
  • Thérèse Raquin (1955, Tr: Philip G. Downs, William Heinemann)
  • Thérèse Raquin (1956, Tr: Lee Marcourt, Ace Books)
  • Thérèse Raquin (1960, Tr: William R. Trask, Bantam Books)
  • Thérèse Raquin (1962, Tr: L.W. Tancock, Penguin Books)
  • Thérèse Raquin (1992, Tr: Andrew Rothwell, Oxford Uni. Press)
  • Thérèse Raquin (2004, Tr: Robin Buss, Penguin Books)
  • Thérèse Raquin (2013, Tr: Adam Thorpe, Vintage, Random House)
• Madeleine Férat (1868 or 1869)
  • Madeleine Férat (1888, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • Shame (1954, Tr: Lee Marcourt, Ace Books)
  • Madeleine Férat (1957, Tr: Alec Brown, Elek Books). Re-published as Fatal Intimacy in 1960.

Les Rougon-Macquart (The Rougon-Macquart Cycle)

• La Fortune des Rougon (1871)
  • The Fortune of the Rougons (1886, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • The Fortune of the Rougons (1898, edited by E. Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
  • The Fortune of the Rougons (2012, Tr: Brian Nelson, Oxford Uni. Press)
• La Curée (1871-2)
  • The Rush for the Spoil (1886, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • The Kill (1895, Tr: A. Teixeira de Mattos, Lutetian Society)
  • The Kill (2004, Tr: Brian Nelson, Oxford Uni. Press)
  • The Kill (2004, Tr: Arthur Goldhammer, Modern Library)
• Le Ventre de Paris (1873/1874)
  • La Belle Lisa or The Paris Market Girls (1882, Tr: Mary Neal Sherwood, T.B. Peterson Bros.)
  • The Fat and the Thin (1888, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • The Fat and the Thin (1896, edited by E. Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
  • Savage Paris (1955, Tr: David Hughes & Marie-Jacqueline Mason, Elek Books)
  • The Belly of Paris (2007, Tr: Brian Nelson, Oxford Uni. Press)
  • The Belly of Paris (2009, Tr: Mark Kurlansky, Modern Library)
• La Conquête de Plassans (1874)
  • The Conquest of Plassans (1887, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • A Priest in the House (1957, Tr: Brian Rhys, Elek Books)
  • The Conquest of Plassans (due in Jun 2014, Tr: Helen Constantine, Oxford Uni. Press)
• La Faute de l’Abbé Mouret (1875)
  • Abbé Mouret’s Transgression (1886, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • Abbé Mouret’s Transgression (1900, edited by E. Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
  • The Sin of the Abbé Mouret (1904, Tr: M. Smyth, McLaren & Co.)
  • The Abbé Mouret’s Sin (1957, Tr: Alec Brown, Elek Books, republished as The Sinful Priest in 1960)
  • The Sin of Father Mouret (1969, Tr: Sandy Petrey, Prentice-Hall)
  • The Sin of Abbé Mouret (2017, Tr: Valerie Minogue, Oxford University Press)
• Son Excellence Eugène Rougon (1876)
  • Clorinda or The Rise and Reign of His Excellency Eugène Rougon (1880, Tr: Mary Neal Sherwood, T.B. Peterson & Bros.)
  • His Excellency Eugène Rougon (1886, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • His Excellency (1958, Tr: Alec Brown, Elek Books)
  • His Excellency Eugène Rougon (2018, Tr: Brian Nelson, Oxford University Press, see Lisa’s comparison with the Vizetelly edition here)
• L’assommoir  (1877)
  • L’assommoir (1879, Tr: Mary Neal Sherwood, T.B. Peterson & Bros.)
  • Gervaise (1879, Tr: E. Binsse, G.W. Carleton & Co.)
  • The ‘Assommoir’ (1884, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • L’Assommoir (1895, Tr: Arthur Symons, Lutetian Society)
  • The Dram Shop (1897, edited by E. Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
  • Drink (1903, Tr: S.J.A. Fitzgerald, Greening & Co.)
  • The Dram Shop (1951, Tr: Gerard Hopkins, Hamish Hamilton)
  • The Gin Palace (1952, Tr: Buckner B. Trawick, Avon Publications)
  • L’Assommoir (1962, Tr: Atwood H. Townsend, New American Library)
  • L’Assommoir (1970, Tr: Leonard Tancock, Penguin Books)
  • L’Assommoir (1995, Tr: Margaret Mauldon, Oxford Uni. Press)
  • The Drinking Den (2000, Tr: Robin Buss, Penguin Books)
• Une Page d’amour (1878)
  • Hélène: A Love Episode (1878, Tr: Mary Neal Sherwood, T.B. Peterson & Bros.)
  • A Love Episode (1886, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • A Love Episode (1895, edited by E.A. Vizetelly, Hutchinson & Co.)
  • A Page of Love (1897, Tr: T.F. Rogerson, Geo Barrie & Son)
  • A Love Episode (1905, Tr: C.C. Starkweather, Société des Beaux-arts)
  • A Love Affair (1957, Tr: Jean Stewart, Elek Books)
  • A Love Story (2017, Tr: Helen Constantine, Oxford University Press)
• Nana (1880)
  • Nana (1884, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • Nana (1895, Tr: Victor Plarr, Lutetian Society)
  • Nana (1926, Tr: Joseph Keating, Cecil Palmer)
  • Nana (1953, Tr: Charles Duff, William Heinemann)
  • Nana (1964, Tr: Lowell Blair, Bantam Books)
  • Nana (1972, Tr: George Holden, Penguin Books)
  • Nana (1992, Tr: Douglas Parmée, Oxford Uni. Press)
• Pot-Bouille (1882)
  • Piping Hot! (1885, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • Pot-Bouille (1895, Tr: Percy Pinkerton, Lutetian Society)
  • Restless House (several versions of Pinkerton’s translation)
  • Pot Luck (1999, Tr: Brian Nelson, Oxford Uni. Press)
• Au Bonheur des Dames (1883)
  • Shop Girls of Paris (1883, Tr: Mary Neal Sherwood, T.B. Peterson & Bros.)
  • The Ladies’ Paradise (1883, Tr: Frank Belmont, Tinsley Bros.)
  • Ladies’ Delight (1957, Tr: April Fitzlyon, John Calder)
  • Au Bonheur des Dames (The Ladies’ Delight) (2001, Tr: Robin Buss, Penguin Books)
  • The Ladies’ Paradise (1995, Tr: Brian Nelson, Oxford Uni. Press)
• La Joie de vivre (1884)
  • How Jolly Life Is! (1886, Tr: unknown, for H. Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • The Joy of Life (1901, edited by E. Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
  • Zest for Life (1955, Tr: Jean Stewart, Elek Books)
  • The Bright Side of Life (2018, Tr: Alan Rothwell, Oxford University Press)
• Germinal (1885)
  • Germinal (1885, Tr: Carlynne, Belford, Clarke & Co.)
  • Germinal (1886, Tr: Albert Vandam, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • Germinal (1894, Tr: Havelock Ellis, Lutetian Society)
  • Germinal (1954, Tr: L.W. Tancock, Penguin Books)
  • Germinal (1962, Tr: Willard R. Trask, Bantam Books)
  • Germinal (1970, Tr: Stanley & Eleanor Hochman, New American Library)
  • Germinal (1993, Tr: Peter Collier, Oxford Uni. Press)
  • Germinal (2004, Tr: Roger Pearson, Penguin Books)
• L’Œuvre (1886)
  • The Masterpiece (1886, Tr: G.D. Cox, T.B. Peterson & Bros.)
  • His Masterpiece (1886, Tr: Albert Vandam, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • His Masterpiece (1902, edited by E.A. Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
  • The Masterpiece (1946, Tr: Katherine Woods, Howell Soskin)
  • The Masterpiece (1950, Tr: Thomas Walton, Elek Books)
  • The Masterpiece (1993, R. Pearson’s revision of T. Walton’s tr, Oxford Uni. Press)
• La Terre (1887)
  • The Soil (c1888), Tr: G.D. Cox, T.B. Peterson & Bros.)
  • The Soil (1888), Tr: unknown, for Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • La Terre (1895), Tr: Ernest Dowson, Lutetian Society)
  • Earth (1954), Tr: Ann Lindsay, Elek Books)
  • Earth (1962), Tr: Margaret Crosland, New English Library)
  • Earth (1980), Tr: Douglas Parmée, Penguin Books)
  • Earth (2016) Tr: Brian Nelson & Julie Rose, Oxford Uni Press.
• Le Rêve (1888)
  • The Dream (1893, Tr: Eliza E. Chase, Chatto & Windus)
  • The Dream (2005, Tr: Andrew Brown, Hesperus Press)
  • The Dream (2005, Tr: Michael Glencross, Peter Owen)
• La Bête humaine (1890)
  • The Human Beast (c1891, Tr: G.D. Cox, T.B. Peterson)
  • The Monomaniac (1901, Tr: E.A. Vizetelly, Hutchinson & Co.)
  • The Human Beast (1937, Tr: Louis Colman, Julien Press)
  • The Human Beast (1954, Tr: Frances Frenaye, Avon Publications)
  • The Beast in Man (1958, Tr: Alec Brown, Elek Books)
  • La Bête Humaine (1977, Tr: Leonard Tancock, Penguin Books)
  • La Bête Humaine (1999, Tr: Roger Pearson, Oxford Uni. Press)
  • The Beast Within (2008, Tr: Roger Whitehouse, Penguin Books)
• L’Argent (1891)
  •  Money (1891, Tr. Benjamin R. Tucker, Benj. R. Tucker, Publisher)
  • Money (1894, Tr: E.A. Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
  • Money (2014, Tr: Valerie Minogue, Oxford Uni. Press)
  • Money (2016, Tr:André Naffis-Sahely, Alma Books)
• La Débâcle (1892)
  • The Downfall (1892, Tr: E.A. Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
  • The Downfall or The Smash-up (1898, Tr: E.P. Robins, The Cassell Co.)
  • The Downfall (1902, Tr: W.M. Sloane, P.F. Collier & Son)
  • The Debacle (1968, Tr: John Hands, Elek Books)
  • The Debacle (1972, Tr: Leonard Tancock, Penguin Books)
  • La Débâcle (2000, Tr: Elinor Dorday, Oxford Uni. Press)
• Le Docteur Pascal (1893)
  • Doctor Pascal (1893, Tr: Ernest Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
  • Doctor Pascal (1901, Tr: Mary J. Serrano, MacMillan Co.)
  • Doctor Pascal (1957, Tr: Vladimir Kean, Elek Books)

Les Trois Villes (The Three Cities Trilogy)

• Lourdes (1894)
  • Lourdes (1894, Tr: Ernest Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
• Rome (1896)
  • Rome (1896, Tr: Ernest Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
• Paris (1898)
  • Paris (1898, Tr: Ernest Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)

Les Quatre Évangiles (The Four Gospels Tetralogy)

• Fécondité (1899)
  • Fruitfulness (1900, Tr: Ernest Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
• Travail (1901)
  • Labor (1901, Tr: unknown, Harper & Bros.)
  • Work (1901, Tr: E. Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
• Vérité (1903, published posthumously)
  • Truth (1903, Tr: Ernest Vizetelly, Chatto & Windus)
• Justice (unfinished)

Short Story Collections

Where the collections were originally published in French then the English translations are listed below that item. Where the collections are English collections from a variety of sources or the original French title is not known then these are listed as a unique item.

• Contes à Ninon (1864)
  • Stories for Ninon (1895, Tr: Edward Vizetelly, William Heinemann Ltd)
• Nouveaux Contes à Ninon (1874)
  • New Stories for Ninon
• Le Capitaine Burle (1882) (A collection of six short stories from Vestnik Evropy including Le Capitaine Burle, Comment on meurt and La Fête à Coqueville
• Naïs Micoulin (1884) (A collection of six short stories from Vestnik Evropy including Naïs Micoulin, La Mort d’Olivier Bécaille, Les Coquillages de Monsieur Chabre and Jacques Damour)
• Parisian Sketches (A collection of four stories: The Boot-polishing Virgin, The Old Woman with Blue Eyes, The Contrasts and Love Under the Roof. Translated by Count C. de Soissons)
• Collected Works of Emile Zola (1928, Walter J. Black Inc, N.Y.)
• The Works of Emile Zola (1928, Black’s Readers Service Company, N.Y.) (details)
• Three Faces of Love (1969, Sphere Books, Tr: Roland Grant) (Contains stories: For One Night of Love, Round Trip and Winkles for Monsieur Chabre)
• The Attack on the Mill and Other Stories (1984, sixteen story collection, Tr: Douglas Parmée, Oxford University Press) (details) (Commentary)
• For a Night of Love (2002, Hesperus Press, Tr: Andrew Brown. Contains three stories, For a Night of Love, Nantas and Fasting) (Commentary)
• Dead Men Tell No Tales and Other Stories (2009, same as OUP collection, Attack on the Mill, but with some extra material, Oneworld Classics) (details)

Other Short Stories and Novellas

• L’Attaque du moulin (1877) (short story included in Les Soirées de Médan, a collection of stories by six authors)
  • The Attack on the Mill (1888, Tr: Edward Vizetelly, Vizetelly & Co.)
  • The Miller’s Daughter
• L’Inondation (1880) (novella)
  • The Flood
• Jacques Damour (1880)
• La Fête à Coqueville
  • The Fête At Coqueville (1907, translated by L. G. Meyer, P. F. Collier & Son)
• Les Quatre Journees de Jean Gourdon (1874) (novella)
  • Jean Gourdon’s Four Days (included in 1910, International Short Stories: French, compiled by Francis J. Reynolds)

Non-fiction (essays & letters)

• Mes haines (1866) (art and literary criticism)
• Mon salon (1866) (art and literary criticism)
• Edouard Manet: étude biographique et critique (1867)
• La République et la Littérature (1879)
• Le Roman Experimental (1880) The Experimental Novel
• Les Romanciers naturalistes (1881) (essays)
• Nos auteurs dramatiques (1881) (essays)
• Documents Littéraires, Études et portraits (1881)
• Le Naturalisme au théâtre (1881)
• L’affaire Dreyfus: lettre à la jeunesse (The Dreyfus Affair) (1887)
• J’accuse (I Accuse) (1898)
• La Vérité en marche (1901)(collection of Zola’s essays on The Dreyfus Affair)