Publisher's Synopsis
Translation was one important aspect of the concept of "imitatio" - the imitation of classical models - which dominated the literary scene in the Renaissance.;This is the first study of the practice, as opposed to the theory, of translation among French writers of that period and takes as its exemplar the humanist scholar and publisher Etienne Dolet (1509-46). Author of the first theoretical treatise on the subject, Dolet also undertook many translations himself, the last of which, the pseudo-Platonic "Axiochus", was used against him as evidence of heterodox thought. Dolet's death at the stake is a reminder that translation could be a dangerous occupation; in demonstrating its relation to the intellectual and political controversies of the time, the study also aims to present a significant contribution to 16th century French studies.
