Index Translationum

The Index Translationum is UNESCO's database of book translations. Books have been translated for thousands of years, with no central record of the fact. The League of Nations established a record of translations in 1932. In 1946, the United Nations superseded the League and UNESCO was assigned the Index. In 1979, the records were computerised.

Since the Index counts translations of individual books, authors with many books with few translations can rank higher than authors with a few books with more translations. So, for example, while the Bible is the single most translated book in the world, it does not rank in the top ten of the index. The Index counts the Walt Disney Company, employing many writers, as a single writer. Authors with similar names are sometimes included as one entry, for example, the ranking for "Hergé" applies not only to the author of The Adventures of Tintin (Hergé), but also to B.R. Hergehahn, Elisabeth Herget, and Douglas Hergert. Hence, the top authors, as the Index presents them, are from a database query whose results require interpretation.

According to the Index, Agatha Christie remains the most-translated individual author.[1]

Statistics

Source: UNESCO[2]

Top 10 Author

No.AuthorNumber of translations
1Agatha Christie7,236
2Jules Verne4,751
3William Shakespeare4,296
4Enid Blyton3,924
5Barbara Cartland3,652
6Danielle Steel3,628
7Vladimir Lenin3,593
8Hans Christian Andersen3,520
9Stephen King3,357
10Jacob Grimm2,977

Top 10 Country

No.CountryNumber of translations
1Germany269,724
2Spain232,853
3France198,574
4Japan130,496
5USSR (to 1991)92,734
6Netherlands90,560
7Poland77,716
8Sweden73,230
9Denmark70,607
10China67,304

Top 10 Target Language

No.LanguageNumber of translations
1German301,935
2French240,045
3Spanish228,559
4English164,509
5Japanese130,649
6Dutch111,270
7Russian100,806
8Portuguese78,904
9Polish76,706
10Swedish71,209

Top 10 Original language

No.LanguageNumber of translations
1English1,266,110
2French226,123
3German208,240
4Russian103,624
5Italian69,555
6Spanish54,588
7Swedish39,984
8Japanese29,246
9Danish21,252
10Latin19,972

See also

References

  1. UNESCO Statistics. "Index Translationum - "TOP 50" Author". Official website of UNESCO. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  2. "Statistics on data published until now by the Index". UNESCO.


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