| | While I was in Grand Rapids in May, I made an effort to solve a mystery that has vexed me for a long time: who translated Procedures Held With Regard to those of the Religion of the Netherlands? This is the primary source document for the debates between de Bres and various Roman Catholic officials while he was in prison, as well as the letters to his church, his wife and his mother. We also find the eyewitness account of his martyrdom in this work. Somebody translated it from French and put a typewritten manuscript of it in the Hekman library at Calvin College/Seminary. But there is no name attached to the translation. The helpful staff at the Meeter Center didn't know. Thea Van Halsema included a partial translation of the letter from de Bres to his wife in her little biography -- even though it doesn't match the one found in the English translation of Procedures. I phoned her and had a very nice conversation with this pleasant elderly woman -- but she didn't know anything about the English translation of Procedures either. So, it remains a mystery. Here are the facts that I do know:
1) The translation was done before the computer age -- it's done on a typewriter. So, quite likely it was done before 1990.
2) The translator was not a native English speaker, in fact, I think it's quite likely that his/her native language was Dutch. For instance, "le propre Fils de Dieu" is translated "the own Son of God." That's a classic Dutchism, reflecting the use of "eigen."
3) The translation was poorly done. Sometimes whole sentences are left out. For this reason, I would recommend that anyone doing serious scholarly work with Procedures not rely too heavily on this English translation. You need to consult with the original French. Maybe this is the reason why the translation is anonymous.
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| | Posted 7/3/2009 2:19 PM - 12 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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