Improvement in the English Translations of Albrecht von Haller's <i>Usong</i> (1771)

Abstract The political novel Usong (1771), written by the Swiss physiologist Albrecht von Haller (1708–1777), is set in the fifteenth century and tells the story of a Mongolian prince who becomes the Emperor of Persia and redesigns the government of his empire to promote the happiness of his subjects. Interestingly, this novel soon appeared in two competing English translations, published in 1772 and 1773. While contemporary reviewers focussed on the question of whether the language of Haller's ‘oriental history’ was imaginative enough, this article argues that the English translators interpreted Usong in the context of the early modern culture of improvement.