Original and revised translations by John of Seville:: the case of Māshāʾallāh’s «epistola de rebus eclipsium»

• Emanuele, Rovati ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Zurich

     University of Zurich

     Zürich, Suiza

     
• Localización: Filologia mediolatina: rivista della Fondazione Ezio Franceschini, ISSN 1124-0008, Nº. 31, 2024, págs. 75-146
• Idioma: italiano
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• Resumen

  • The present paper is devoted to Epistola de rebus eclipsium, a short treatise on mundane astrology by Māshāʾallāh (fl. 762-809/813). While its original Arabic text is lost, there exists a Latin translation associated with John of Seville, the earliest attested 12th-century translator on the Iberian Peninsula. A survey of the Epistola’s textual transmission indicates the existence of two different versions of the text. It is argued that one of them is John’s original translation, while the other reflects a revised version prepared by John himself; the latter is aimed at conveying more accurately the work’s technical content, also by using a slightly more Latinate style. This shows that John already engaged in the practice of revising translations that would become widespread among later translators of Arabic texts