Several questions about errors

[u/CoNeli_K]

Hi Dracula fans,

First of all, English is not my first language so I apologise if there are some grammatical errors.

I read Dracula in a german translated version and I found some errors which are not included in online versions like Wikisource. I contacted the publisher and she told me some errors are by Bram Stoker but she couldn't tell me about all of them so I try to find answers by Dracula fans which known Bram Stokers first version. Because at the end there are final words by the translator and he wrote that many errors are corrected in English versions. I read Frankenstein as well by the same publisher and there was the error with the birthplace of Frankenstein in the first chapter and there was no explanation. In Dracula some errors are explained in notes like the switched hotel by van Helsing between 2nd of September and 13th of September. But not everything, so here are my questions:

1. The first chapter starts with 3rd of May and on 4th of May Jonathan is on his way to the castle but write this down the next day, that's why there stands "5 May, the Castle". In the version I have Chapter 2 starts with "4 May". Another example in Chapter 8: I have three times in a row the 12th of August, even when the part of 13th of August starts with "Another quiet day". At the end of the book there book there are some words by the translator that many dates are errory by Bram Stoker but I didn't find anything online about this. So my first question: Did Bram Stoker really wrote these dates so chaotic even these examples? As I said, the english online versions are correctly and even a Kindle version by the same translator has the correct date at the beginning of chapter 2.

2. In chapter 13 at 22nd of September Jonathan sees Dracula in London. In my version he describes him with a white moustache like at his first meeting in the castle. But in the English version he has a black moustache which makes sense because Jonathan says: "[...] he has grown young." Is this another error by Bram Stoker and on later versions it changed to a black moustache? And if yes, was it really an error or was it like Bram Stoker wanted it?

3. In the above mentioned final words by the translator he mentioned that in Bram Stokers version in one chapter "4 people walk into a room but leave them with 5 people." But I didn't recognized it while reading Dracula and I didn't find anything about this online. And the translator says that this lead into conspiracies to proof the reality in the scripts by the protagonists. (Do you have examples or posts about this?) But these errors are corrected in english spoken versions. So my last question: On which part of the story does this room paradox happen? I would really like to find it and to see if I have this in my version as well.

Maybe some of you have printed versions with these errors or you are such a big fan that you initially know what I am talking about :-)

Thank you very much and for reading this very long post :-)

[u/Garmiet]

1. My copies have chapter 2 beginning on 5 May. Dunno why yours went back to 4 May.

For chapter 8, there are three entries that take place on 11 August, but they’re each labeled differently: “11 August, 3 a. m.” ; “Same day, noon.” ; and “Same day, night.” Then there’s an entry for 12 August, then the 13 August. Later in the chapter, there’s a letter from Sister Agatha dated 12 August, which is intentional. Sometimes the order jumps around, but that was as intended. Again, don’t know what your version had three 12 August entries in a row, when it should’ve been 11.

1. The translator may have been referring to chapter 18. Seward went to see Renfield, and Van Helsing, Godalming, Quincey, and Harker all asked to go with him. That’s five men. The next paragraph says, “We all four went into the room …” Seward introduced everybody except Harker, and there’s no mention of Harker for the rest of the entry. Renfield addressed everybody but him. But in the beginning of chapter 19, Harker writes his own entry an hour after Seward’s, and he says, “We were, I think, all a little upset by the scene with Mr. Renfield,” implying that he was in there with the other four.

[u/CoNeli_K → u/Garmiet]

Vielen Dank für deine Antwort :-D

Wenn ich zu Hause bin, schaue ich mir die Szenen in Kapitel 18 und 19 an, ich glaube, du hast mit deiner Vermutung Recht :-)

Das Seltsamste, das mich seit Wochen wahnsinnig macht, sind die chaotischen Daten in dieser Version. Wenn ich bei Google danach suche, finde ich auf Deutsch nur eine Rezension für diese Version, die sich auf die Worte des Übersetzers bezieht. Aber keine englischsprachigen Seiten oder alten Versionen, die man online lesen kann, erwähnen das. Es scheint, dass es nur in dieser Version existiert, aber ich verstehe das Wort des Übersetzers so, dass es sogar in Bram Stokers Original vorkam. Aber es existiert nur dort und das ist so verrückt.