The first Latin translation

Mordeglia, Caterina (2010) The first Latin translation. Internationale Forschungen zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft; 133 . Amsterdam; New York : Rodopi, pp. 59-83. ISBN 978-90-420-2962-0

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    Abstract

    Although Agostino Nifo produced a Latin reworking of Il Principe before Machiavelli’s treatise saw print, the first proper Latin translation was not completed until 1560. Commissioned by the publisher Pietro Perna, it was carried out by the Reformed Umbrian exile Silvestro Tegli and published in Basle as a work of politico-religious Reformist propaganda. The translation was essentially faithful to the original, except for the omission of some passages whose content was too compromising and a stylistic reworking marked by the use of rhetorical amplificatio, as was typical of literary prose in the sixteenth century. With its 14 republications and re-printings in the space of 60 years, it helped spread Machiavelli’s text throughout Europe, and its fame was only surpassed by Hermann Conring’s Latin translation published in 1660, which however largely recast the original for ideological reasons.

    Item Type: Book chapter or Essay in book
    Department or Research center: Humanities
    Subjects: P Language and Literature > PA Classical languages and literature > PA2001 Latin philology and language
    P Language and Literature > PQ Romance literatures > PQ4001 Italian literature
    Repository staff approval on: 06 Mar 2013 10:51

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