Hello Antibes-ga,
I actually read The Wind and the Willows to my two boys just a few
weeks ago. They were simultaneously entertained and perplexed by it.
It's an oddly wonderful tale.
According to the company that holds license to some of The Wind in the
Willow materials, The Copyrights Group:
http://www.copyrights.co.uk/en/1/porwiw.html
about 25 million copies of The Wind in the Willows have been sold:
"First published in 1908, The Wind in the Willows remains one of the
world’s best-loved children’s classics. Estimated worldwide sales
exceed 25 million copies across 70 countries."
They also note something I suspect I realized subconsciously:
"The enduring popularity of The Wind in the Willows owes much to the
universal and enduring appeal of the iluustrations by E H Shepard,
famous as the illustrator of Winnie the Pooh."
They also note some facts about sales and use of the "Wind in the
Willows" name in other contexts:
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UK Licensing
Margarete Steiff developed a highly successful limited edition range.
Sales exceed 1.5 million since the launch of the collection.
A visitor attraction based on The Wind in the Willows attracts
international and domestic tourists in England's Peak District.
The Wind in the Willows has appeared in a high-profile advertising
campaign for Renault’s Espace Alize and McDonald’s featured Wind in
the Willows Television Favourites ‘Happy Meal’ promotion in 2001.
The Mammals Trust UK uses characters from The Wind in the Willows as
mascots for the Trust.
------------------
A search of the WorldCat database, which has information on millions
of book titles around the world, revealed the following
translations/publications of The Wind in the Willows:
Liu shu jian di feng sheng -- China
Am Fluss unter den Weiden -- Germany
El viento en los sauces -- Spain
Viter u verbolozi -- Ukraine
O czym szumia wierzby -- Poland
Il vento nei salici -- Italy
Le vent dans les saules -- France
Tanoshii kawabe -- Japan
Veter v ivakh -- Russia
al-Rih wa-al-safsaf -- Lebanon
It's also been translated into the native language and published in
these countries, where differences in the alphabets prevent me from
posting the titles here:
Sweden
Hungary
Israel
Latvia
From looking over the results of the WorldCat database search, it
appears that most of the English-language publications of The Wind in
the Willows (of which there are very many) have been published in
either the UK or the US.
I hope this is the information you were seeking. If anything here is
unclear or needs elaboration, please let me know by posting a
Requestion for Clarification. I'll be happy to assist you further.
pafalafa-ga |
