A lot of the information I found about the background of the text/ how we got the text comes from the scholarly introduction and notes about the translations.
The translated publication we have from Penguin Classics is from 2016. A direct quote from the book,”This translation is based on Maurice Heine’s edition of Les 120 journées de Sodome (Paris: Stendhal et Cie, 1931-5).” This was the second edition of the novel after Iwan’s version. This is also one of the only copies based on the original piece.
The translators make a note that the only editing they will be doing is translating directly from what the text means so the original intention isn’t lost. The only changes they made was correcting verb endings and making sure things stay consistent.
An important thing to note while Marquis wrote 120 days of Sodom was his work kept getting taken away from him while he was in jail. Him being in jail and slowly losing his sanity could also add to the reason why some parts were inconsistent.
The effect of his work being published seemed to only hurt him as a writer. Since many believed books had the power to corrupt others in the 18th century, they believed the people would become more violent. There were more crimes being committed but it couldn’t be proven the crimes were committed because of the book release.
A lot of the effects were exaggerated, like the increased rates of crime, due to information being spread verbally. The truth and fiction blended together and by the time all the scandals reached everyone, no one knew which parts were real.
