Andreas Alciatus: Volume I: The Latin Emblems; Volume II: Emblems in Translation

827 Pages·1985·53.082 MB·English

by  Peter Daly (ed.)

Index
Emblematicus
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A N D R E AS
A L C I A T US
i
The Latin Emblems
Indexes and Lists
EDITED BY PETER M. DALY
WITH VIRGINIA W. CALLAHAN
ASSISTED BY SIMON GUTTLER
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
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www.utppublishing.com
© University of Toronto Press 1985
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-2425-4
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Andreas Alciatus
(Index emblematicus)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
Contents: v. 1. The Latin emblems indexes and
lists - v. 2. Emblems in translation.
ISBN 0-8020-2425-4 (set)
1. Alciati, Andrea, 1492-1550. Emblemata.
2. Alciati, Andrea, 1492-1550. Emblemata-Indexes.
3. Emblems - Criticism and interpretation.
I. Alciati, Andrea, 1492-1550. Emblemata.
II. Daly, Peter M., 1936- III. Callahan,
Virginia W. IV. Cuttler, S. H. (Simon Hirsch),
1950- V. Series.
PN6349.A461985 878'.04 C85-098039-9
The research costs of the Index Emblematicus have been supported by generous grants from
the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Publication of this book is made possible by a grant from the Publications Fund of
University of Toronto Press.
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CONTENTS
VOLUME 1
Preface vii
Introduction ix
The Life of Andreas Alciatus and its Relation to his Emblems xix
Bibliography of Studies of Andreas Alciatus and his Emblems xxiii
LISTS AND INDEXES
Picture Index 3
Motto Indexes
Latin 14 / French 17 / German 20 / Italian 23 / Spanish 26
English Translations 29
Epigram Indexes
Latin 40 / French 58 / German 74 / Italian 92 / Spanish 108
English Translations 123
Subject Index 199
Alphabetical Lists of Mottoes
Latin 202 / Greek 204 / French 205 / German 207 / Italian 209 / Spanish 211
Sequential Lists of Mottoes
Alciatus (Latin) 213 / Alciatus (Greek) 215 / Lefevre 216 / Aneau 217 / Marnef(1561) 218 /
Marnef(1574) 219 / Hunger 220 / Held 221 / Marquale 222 / Cadamosto 224 / Daza 225
List of Alciatus Emblems in Geffrey Whitney's A Choice of Emblems 227
Comparative Index to Editions 228
THE LATIN EMBLEMS: Facsimiles and Translations 233
VOLUME 2
THE FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, AND SPANISH EMBLEMS
Facsimiles and Translations 350
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PREFACE
This publication had an exciting conception, an elephantine gestation period, and
in many respects a self-help delivery.
The conception of an Index Emblematicus took shape during the year 1976-77
which I spent engaged in research into several aspects of the emblematic tradition at
the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbuttel in the Federal Republic of Germany. The
idea to establish an emblem index — these Alciatus volumes represent a modest first
step towards the realisation of that goal — gradually crystallized through informal
discussions with colleagues. More structured proposals were presented to a conference
on emblem research held at the Library in July 1977, and they were taken up at a
second conference in Wolfenbuttel in March of the following year. I was asked to
continue work on an index model and carry out a pilot study. This led to a symposium
on indexing emblems held at McGill University in December 1978 that was attended by
colleagues who had participated in the pilot project. The papers were published in a
volume entitled The European Emblem: Towards an Index Emblematicus (Waterloo:
Wilfried Laurier University Press, 1980).
The indexing procedures and organization of the Index Emblematicus owe much to
earlier indexes of iconographic material. Among the most important are the following:
The Index of Christian Art (Princeton),
The Index of Jewish Art, ed. Bezalel Narkis and G. Sed-Rajna (Paris and Jerusalem,
1976)
the Iconographic Index of the Warburg Institute of the University of London, and
Arthur Henkel and Albrecht Schone, Emblemata. Handbuch zur Sinnbildkunst des XVI.
und XVH. Jahrhunderts (Stuttgart: Metzler, 1967, 2nd ed. 1976).
Since the Henkel and Schone Handbuch is the most valuable reference work of its
kind, and was in some ways a model for my procedures, I will briefly characterize it.
The Handbuch is a kind of classified 'anthology' of emblems selected from 47 different
emblem books, and organized like a baroque encyclopedia with the following eight major
sections: the macrocosm, the four elements, plants, animals, world of man,
personifications, mythology and Biblical subjects. The individual emblems are grouped
according to the place occupied in this broad scheme by the motifs in the pictures. The
emblem facsimiles and their German translations are accompanied by a 'Motif Index,'
containing motifs from the pictures, and a 'Meaning Index,' based on the editors'
summary of the meaning of the emblem as a whole. The Index Emblematicus and the
Handbuch differ organizationally in a number of important \vays. The facsimile
reproductions of emblems in the Index Emblematicus are accompanied by English
translations. The Index is alphabetical rather than classified. As far as the the texts
are concerned, the Index is based on the actual words of the mottoes and epigrams, i.e.
the emblem text speaks in its own voice.
Having finally decided upon procedures and the format for the Index Emblematicus
— as much by trial and error as by analysis and comparison ~ the work of describing
pictures and analysing texts began. Several colleagues assisted with the Latin, French,
Italian and Spanish texts. We translated the mottoes and made long summaries of the
epigrams, which included the key words that were later to be concorded. With the
Latin, French, German and Spanish texts complete, I presented samples to the University
of Toronto Press for approval. My editor suggested making full translations rather than
the summaries of all the epigrams, and I was persuaded that this would be an
improvement. Back to the drawing board, or rather back at the typewriter, we had to
re-work the 850 odd epigram texts.
The master sheets with their camera-ready copy for the publisher were typed up
at McGill University. At about the time that the master sheets for the Latin emblems
were completed a coincidence occurred, which introduced a further delay but made for
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a substantial refinement in the project. In tne Fall of 1981 William S. Heckscher came
to McGill University to receive an Honorary Doctorate. I was aware that he had been
working with Virginia W. Callahan on a translation of Alciatus's Latin emblems that
would be accompanied by extensive commentaries. Heckscher likewise knew that I was
working on the Alciatus emblems, but neither of us knew precisely how far the other
had progressed with the work. At McGill we had not only completed our translation,
but it had been typed onto the master sheets, and was only waiting for the photographic
reproductions of the emblems. Recognizing the advanced stage of our own preparations,
Heckscher suggested that rather than allow two translations to appear almost
simultaneously, it would be preferable for us to combine our efforts. In the event this
meant a line by line comparison of our translation with the Callahan/Heckscher version,
all 212 mottoes and epigrams, in order to establish a new single text. This took a
great deal of time, but was done in a friendly spirit. I should like to take this
opportunity of thanking William S. Heckscher and Virginia W. Callahan for their
cooperation and generosity. I believe the resulting single translation is an improvement
over the two previous renderings. As a consequence the Latin master sheets had to be
completely re-typed.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge one's gratitude to the many colleagues, friends and
assistants who have helped this project to its completion. Dr. Simon Cuttler, my
research assistant, — in fact more associate than assistant — was a tower of strength;
careful and conscientious, he was always as interested in the larger questions as he was
in the details. In many ways he was the anchor man for much of the translation work.
My McGill colleague, Professor Paola Tomaszuk, gave much advice on the Latin, while
Virginia W. Callahan worked closely with us to merge the two translations. Simon
Cuttler provided the French translations. He also v/orked closely with Jenny Khoury of
the McGill's Department of Italian on the Italian texts, an earlier version having been
provided by Lorelei Robins of the University of Manitoba. Lorelei Robins also made
the initial summary of the Spanish texts. Simon Cuttler collaborated with Professor
Marcelino Amasuno of McGill's Department of Hispanic Studies on the final version of
the Spanish translation into English. I did the translation from German, and was
fortunate to be able to consult with my colleagues Horst Richter and Josef Schmidt,
as well as Martin Bircher at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbuttel.
The description of emblematic pictures is frequently an exericse in iconographic
interpretation. Here I was fortunate to have the assistance of Rudi Meyer, an art
historian; I was able to count on the advice of my colleague Thomas Glen of the
Department of Art History.
I should also like to express my thanks to Professor Paul Raabe, Director of the
Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbuttel for his encouragement in this large
undertaking. The final shape of this facsimile edition and its indexes owes much to
stimulating discussions we had at the Library.
A project like this is highly labour intensive, it requires extensive use of
computing facilities, and finallly expensive photographic work. None of this could have
been carried through to completion without the generous support of the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada, which provided research grants that
enabled me to develop, test and modify techniques and then apply them to the Alciatus
emblems. I am also grateful to the John and Simon Guggenheim Foundation, which
awarded me a fellowship during the year 1982, thus providing me with time, that most
precious of all commodities.
Montreal, November 1983 PMD
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INTRODUCTION
THE PURPOSE
The purpose of this volume is to make accessible to the modern reader the
emblems of the great Italian jurist Andreas Alciatus not only in the original Latin but
also in representative translations into French, German, Italian and Spanish published
during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. These emblems have been rendered
accessible in three ways. Firstly, facsimiles of the emblems have been reproduced;
secondly, the texts have been translated into English and the pictures have been briefly
described; thirdly, indexes have been prepared to the key words and visual motifs, which
are specially flagged in the translations and descriptions.
THE TRANSLATIONS
At least since the Victorian revival of interest in the emblematic tradition, there
has been a keenly felt need for a translation of Alciatus's emblems. The Holbein
Society not only published Henry Green's bibliographical study and facsimile editions of
the Latin emblems, but also announced plans to bring out an English translation by the
Reverend George Spencer Cautley (1807-80) who both wrote and collected emblems (1).
However, nothing came of it. It is an odd fact that no English translation of Alciatus's
emblems has ever been published, not even during the reigns of Elizabeth and James.
The manuscript translation dating from Stuart times, known to Henry Green (2), and
'missingly noted' by Rosemary Freeman (3), has been located by Karl Josef HSltgen.
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that it will be published in the near future. Whitney's
selection of Alciatus's emblems represent the only printed versions available in English,
but these texts are free re-creations, rather than translations.
Our translations of the mottoes and epigrams are intended to provide access to
the texts. Since for this reason they remain close to the wording of the original, the
reader should not expect a literary or poetic re-creation. Yet although it was our aim
to adhere to the wording and syntax of the originals, we allowed ourselves on occasion
the liberty of using a different part of speech when that improved the style of the
English, or provided a better key word for the index. Thus the German verb 'gebaren'
(to bear a child, to give birth) was indexed as the noun 'birth.' However, when the
change in part of speech involves a key word that would appear in the index, the key
word itself was quoted in its original form in brackets in the translation, and it appears
in this form in the index, e.g. in the infinitive 'gebaren.'
By comparison with Alciatus's often sophisticated and compressed, even elliptic
Latin style, the vernacular translations are usually more verbose, and occasionally
clumsy, for the sixteenth-century translators frequently resorted to padding to fill out
their lines, especially where they use longer verse forms than Alciatus. In rendering
these translations into English we have at times spared the reader the clumsiness, which
would only have been compounded in our translation. It is also a feature of the literary
German language of the period to use word pairs often characterized by alliteration or
assonance, one of which words is frequently redundant semantically. In emblem 14 on
laziness Hunger writes that those who are idle will eventually find themselves in 'not
vnd plag,' which we render simply as 'hardship.' We have only translated one of the
words or phrases, unless the words became key words for the indexes. In this case we
provided both words in brackets. In emblem 73 on the power of love Hunger describes
how Cupid can turn any man into a fool, using two words 'betoren1 and 'narren' for the
notion of 'fool1:
Bethort vnd nart er in gar bald.
Both 'betoren' and 'narren' appear as key words in the index.
The nature of translation is always determined by the purpose it serves. In this
case the purpose was ultimately to produce a large-scale index to the semantically
important key words, both representational and interpretational, that is pictorial and
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conceptual, as well as to the symbolically relevant motifs in the picturae. Where
translation is its own goal, whether that be faithful re-creation of the historically
conditioned text or its contemporary adaptation, then the reliability or accuracy of the
translation can be assessed in terms of its faithfulness to the letter and spirit of both
the original text and the target language. Since we have translated with an eye to the
exigencies of indexing, accuracy had to be tempered by considerations of consistency.
At its simplest, consistency in translation means selecting the same English word
where several words are available for one and the same notion, or object. Of course,
some synonyms reveal stylistic or syntactical differences but we are more concerned
with semantic distinctions than style, level and tone. The dual origins of English have
given us both 'to weep1 and 'to cry,1 'naked' and 'nude.1 From the semantic view point
these pairs of words convey the same meaning, and to save the reader from unnecessary
searching, we have consistently used 'to weep,1 and 'naked.1 At times other considerations
determined the choice: we chose 'to weep' in order to avoid a possible homograph in
'to cry,1 which can mean both 'to weep' and 'to shout.'
This same consistency in the choice of words helps to produce a certain uniformity
in translation, and also in the indexes, where the original language has synonyms that
may be accurately rendered by one and the same English word. Held and Hunger use
the words 'Begrabnis1 and 'Leiblegung' for 'burial,' together with the verbs 'begraben' and
•bestatten1 for 'to bury.' All three terms can be translated by the English 'bury.' When
we recall that German has at least five nouns for 'burial' — 'Begrabnis,' 'Beerdigung,'
'Bestattung,' 'Grablegung' and 'Leiblegung' ~ it is evident that the use of one and the
same English equivalent will make the index less cumbersome, since it draws together
related but alphabetically scattered terms, thereby saving the user from much additional
searching.
It is a short step from synonyms to euphemisms. Man has developed a highly
differentiated vocabulary both to name, to describe, and euphemistically to avoid the
naming of death. All languages have euphemisms like 'to pass on,' 'to fall asleep' and
'to depart,' which complicate the work of compilers of dictionaries and indexes alike.
The German scholar and grammarian Justus Schottel in the seventeenth century
collected over one hundred words for death. Man's creativity seems endless, if at times
sinister. Whereas the Third Reich coined the phrase 'the final solution,' American
military bureaucracy created a euphemistic vocabulary intended to distance soldiers,
politicians and the public from the grim reality of destruction in Viet Nam. Thus
'pacification' and 'neutralisation' took on new significance that denied the root meaning
of each word. On occasion an old idiom will receive a new, if ironic, lease of life, as
in the case of 'going over Jordan' ('u'ber den Jordan gehen'), the phrase used by the
young suicide Edgar Wiebeau in a recent East German novel (4).
The words used by Alciatus and his German translators for 'death' and 'to die1
are numerous. They include not only the obvious 'Tod' (12 times), and 'sterben' (3
times), but also the compound verb 'absterben,' which the unwary user of the German
index might well overlook, as well as the euphemisms 'hinscheiden1 and 'hinfahren.1 All
these terms are gathered together under the English equivalent, 'death' and 'to die.'
Although consistency is a major concern in our translations, it was, of course, not
always possible to render each foreign word with one, unchanging English equivalent.
Abstract terms present particular problems since words like the Latin 'virtus,' French
Vertue,' Italian and Spanish 'virtu' and the German equivalent 'Tugend' all had a broader
spectrum of usage in the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries than their modern
cognates today. In a Renaissance context 'virtus' can be rendered as 'virtue' or
'excellence,' whether in the intellectual, moral, spiritual or physical sense. None the
less, we have frequently translated 'virtus' as 'virtue' in order to retain the root and
maintain vocabulary consistency in the indexes, relying on the user's understanding of
such Renaissance concepts.
In modern usage the German word 'Zucht' is limited largely to the breeding of
animals, whereas in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period it had broader
applications, ranging from 'discipline' through 'good manners and breeding' and 'civilized
conduct' to 'virtue1 and even 'virginity.' Thus, in Hunger's emblems 10 and 61 we have
translated 'Zucht' in the context of marriage as Virtue.' In such situations interpretation
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