The Christian Intelligencer reported in its January 1, 1908 issue that French, English, and German translations were being made of Around the Mediterranean Sea. However—although the Dutch edition had been a commercial success—only a French translation was completed, and this not altogether successfully. The publication of the second volume required partial advance financing (see 1911.19).

A note in the preface to the second volume mentions that this first volume (apart from the chapter about the Holy Land) had been translated by Léon Hebbelynck, an attorney at the Court of Appeal in Ghent, Belgium. The chapter on the Holy Land was translated by Jules Kleyntjens, professor at the Koninklijke Atheneum in Leuven. Msgr. Ad. Hebbelynck, rector of Leuven University, suggested the two translators to Kuyper (see KA 132, letter dated January 7, 1907). Léon Hebbelynck was the rector’s nephew. Kuyper paid for the translation as well as for the editorial work.

From the contract for the second volume with publisher Albert Dewit (KA 316), it appears that the volumes were to have been published in Paris as well as Brussels. However, a Paris edition has not yet been located. In a section that identifies works by professors at the Vrije Universiteit, the 1911 Almanac of the Student Union (see 1911.01) includes the following reference (p. [192]): “Autour de l’ancien mer du monde, dl. I. Parijs. Plan Nourritel & Co. 1910.” The spelling of the title (ancien instead of ancienne) and the place of publication (“Parijs” instead of “Paris”) suggest that this information may have been based on supposition or hearsay rather than physical inspection.