The text traces the history of translation into English from Anglo-Saxon beginnings through the nineteenth century, examining how translators justified their methods, handled foreign texts, and enriched their native tongue. Early medieval translators often treated borrowed material with great freedom, compiling, adapting, and mingling the substance of their sources with independent creations. In the sixteenth century, the impact of the Renaissance and the new learning introduced higher academic standards of accuracy, alongside an increased consciousness of the need to cultivate English style. The special case of the English Bible involved a unique struggle between literalism and intelligibility, resulting in a rich vocabulary and a dignified rhythm that influenced generations.
Secular translation developed diverse currents: while romantic novellas and courtly tracts were often handled with casual freedom, scholars of classical literature argued for a reasonable balance between the letter and the spirit. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the movement toward polished versification, particularly the heroic couplet, and the demand for decorum led critics like Denham, Cowley, Dryden, and Pope to refine the theory of translation, balancing the claims of the original author against the expectations of a sophisticated audience. Despite competing philosophies of literal fidelity, paraphrase, and imitation, the core problem remained: how to capture the genius of an ancient or foreign work without sacrificing the living idiom of the English language.
