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Part of
Translation in Knowledge, Knowledge in Translation
Edited by Rocío G. Sumillera, Jan Surman and Katharina Kühn
[Benjamins Translation Library 154] 2020
► pp. 123–144

Chapter 6
The Latin translation of Philosophical Transactions (1671–1681)

| Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo (ILC-CSIC)

“The story of the Latin edition of the early volumes [of Philosophical Transactions] is a complex one and not easy to reconstruct” (Kronick 2004: 165). The lengthiest available account (Johns 1998: 514–521) is based on the edition of the Oldenburg-Sand correspondence by Hall and Hall (1973–1977). This chapter engages with the primary texts involved and provides a substantially revised account of the Neo-Latin translation of Philosophical Transactions, challenging previous assumptions and also revealing for the first time the presence of theologically heterodox material.

Keywords: natural philosophy, Neo-Latin translations, book history, author/translator, antitrinitarianism, Socinianism, Royal Society
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Acta philosophica
    • 2.1Bibliographical facts
    • 2.2The translators
    • 2.3A rare edition and a controversial preface
  • 3.Author versus translator?
    • 3.1Attribution and disavowal
    • 3.2Latinity, politeness and more
  • 4.Final remarks: An outdated effort
  • Acknowledgment
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 29 October 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.154.06tor
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