Leonardo Bruni. De interpretatione recta. De la traduction parfaite. Traduction du latin, introduction et notes de Charles Le Blanc. Ottawa, Les Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa, 2008, 132 p.

This new, elegant, French translation of De interpretatione recta, a pioneering work by Florentine Leonardo Bruni written between 1420 and 1426 and considered to be the first modern treatise on the theory of translation, as well as a “manifesto” of humanist culture, is timely in that Bruni reflects on questions and issues that still concern and perplex translation scholars. The publication also reminds translators, especially literary translators, of the importance of striving to re-capture or restore not only the meaning but also the essential stylistic elements of the original. This is particularly noteworthy in the context of current postmodern thinking, as it impacts on Translation Studies, especially in its tendency to suggest that it is not possible to reproduce the source text in the totality of its structural and semantic complexity, and that every translation is only an interpretation, one in a virtually endless series of possible readings. While conceding that there are limits to the attainment of what may appear to be an antiquated objective, that of complete fidelity to the source text, Bruni nonetheless argues that it is the responsibility of the translator to try to achieve that elusive goal. Le Blanc’s French translation, with the original Latin facing, includes an indispensable introduction, a concise biography, and ample endnotes that provide translations of phrases left in the original Greek, comments on various aspects of Bruni’s procedures, and very useful explanations of references to Latin and Greek texts, intertexts that might escape the reader not entirely familiar with Renaissance or classical scholarship. Le Blanc acknowledges his indebtedness to Sulla perfetta traduzione, Paolo Vito’s Italian translation (Napoli, Liguori, 2004), stating: “Cette édition du traité De interpretatione recta fut conduite à partir de celle établie par Paolo Vito qui, à ce jour, offre l’analyse la plus minutieuse de cet ouvrage dans l’importante oeuvre humaniste de Leonardo Bruni” (pp. 16-17). In addition, Le Blanc has relied on Leonardo Bruni Aretino Humanistisch-philosophische Schriftenmit einer Chronologie seiner Werke und Briefe, edited by H. Baron (Leipzig-Berlin, Teubner, 1928). In his Introduction, Le Blanc places Bruni’s treatise within the context of the renewed interest for Antiquity in Renaissance Florence, especially the humanists’ desire to understand more precisely and thoroughly the classical authors, hence the need for philological rigour. Philology and translation are seen as indispensable to that pursuit and as interdependent instruments in the recovery of the full meaning of classical texts. Le Blanc writes: “[…] on peut affirmer qu’il y a un continuum entre le changement d’esprit manifesté par les humanistes à l’égard de l’Antiquité et de ses textes, et la nécessité de circonduire des critères philologiques précis dans l’établissement des manuscrits, en particulier dans l’élaboration de règles pour la conduite des traductions” (p. 4). Bruni and his contemporaries assumed that philological precision assured the truthfulness of the translated text, fidelity to the source text, re-appropriation of the original text and author, and, most importantly for Renaissance intellectuals, rediscovery of the self, since it was believed at the time that one is what one reads. Bruni himself provides an outline of his brief treatise: “[…] je t’exposerai d’abord ce que je pense de la traduction, puis je t’illustrerai les critiques qu’à bon droit j’ai faites. Enfin, en troisième lieu, je montrerai qu’en reprenant ses erreurs, j’ai suivi la méthode des hommes les plus doctes” (p. 29). The translator whose work he addresses throughout the treatise is Roberto Grossatesta, who had published his own translation of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics prior to Bruni’s version of 1417, in the Preface of which Bruni criticized the defects in Grossatesta’s rendition. De interpretatione recta is, in part, …