so you wanna be a librarian, part 2
Now for a more complicated example.
Back in the 18th Century the Polish sage, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov wrote a collection of parables called Stories of Deeds (which he titled in Hebrew, and wrote in a blend of Hebrew and Yiddish). [And yes, I know, saying that R' Nachman wrote a collection of stories is like saying Martin Luther King made a speech about a dream.]
In 1906, Martin Buber adapted the stories into German (which is what originally made his reputation as a Jewish scholar and theologian, before writing I and Thou and his other theosophic works). I say "adapted" and not "translated," because that's exactly what Buber says in his prefatory note to the work -- he was reinterpreting and retelling the parables in his own German words, not just offering Nachman's Hebrew in German phrasing.
So now, the questions are: who is the main entry for "Die Geschichten des Rabbi Nachman," Buber or Nachman? Further, what call number would you assign it -- 296[.8332], for Judaism [optionally subdivided for Hasidism], or 834 [to use the U of I's local Dewey scheme for literatures] for 20th Century German lit?
And why was I not surprised when I saw that the U of I's catalog had 2 copies in 296 under Nachman as Main Entry, and 2 copies in 834 under Buber?
Back in the 18th Century the Polish sage, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov wrote a collection of parables called Stories of Deeds (which he titled in Hebrew, and wrote in a blend of Hebrew and Yiddish). [And yes, I know, saying that R' Nachman wrote a collection of stories is like saying Martin Luther King made a speech about a dream.]
In 1906, Martin Buber adapted the stories into German (which is what originally made his reputation as a Jewish scholar and theologian, before writing I and Thou and his other theosophic works). I say "adapted" and not "translated," because that's exactly what Buber says in his prefatory note to the work -- he was reinterpreting and retelling the parables in his own German words, not just offering Nachman's Hebrew in German phrasing.
So now, the questions are: who is the main entry for "Die Geschichten des Rabbi Nachman," Buber or Nachman? Further, what call number would you assign it -- 296[.8332], for Judaism [optionally subdivided for Hasidism], or 834 [to use the U of I's local Dewey scheme for literatures] for 20th Century German lit?
And why was I not surprised when I saw that the U of I's catalog had 2 copies in 296 under Nachman as Main Entry, and 2 copies in 834 under Buber?