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1712; Blondel, 1699; Leibnitz, 1712; over about a hundred other treatises), that demonstrate not only his deep knowledge of
the latest scientific literature on the subject, but also the attitude to discussion and debate of these European authors, sharing,
exchanging and disseminating their writings.
B) architectural treatises, which can be classified in to kinds: the ancient ones (Vitruvio, 1567) and the treatises in the two centuries
before Poleni (Vasari, 1550; Barbaro, 1567; Serlio, 1575; Vignola, 1611). It is interesting to note Poleni seems to overlook
the technical treatises written by the authors of his time, which, as seen above, have less relevance in the European context of
architectural treatises than two centuries before, during which Italy was in an absolute pre-eminence position in Europe for these
specific issues.
C) about two hundred non-scientific books and various treatises on very different subjects , from history to moral philosophy ,
from numismatics to genealogy. These books are not interesting for the study of
mechanics applied to architecture, but they suggest the richness and complexity of the investigations,
conducted by Poleni to study the Dome and then the holistic approach adopted by him, under the methodological view point, in
conducting this research.
4.d. Examples of glossaries and synoptic technical translations in the field of architecture
The history of the translation of foreign architectural treatises into English is long and complex; certainly one of the best-known
examples concerns Vitruvius’s treatise, De Architectura, written at the end of the first century BC and translated from Latin into
modern languages since the sixteenth century, often with the addition of drawings and appendices (into Italian: Giovanni Sulpizio,
Victruvii Pollionis ad Cesarem Augustvm De architectura, c1486-148; into Dutch: Walther Hermann Ryff, Vitruvii viri suae professionis
pertissimi De architectura libri decem, 1543; into Franch: Jean Martin, Architecture ou Art de bien bastir de Marc Vitruve Pollion, 1547;
into Spanish: Juan Gracian e Miguel de Urrea, De Architectura, dividido en diez libroz, traducidos del Latin en Casellano, 1582).
In this regard it is interesting to note that the first complete English translation of Vitruvius’s treatise was published only two centuries
later (Anonymous, An abridgment of the Architecture of Vitruvius, 1692). Still today new editions and translations, mainly into English,
are published (Gwilt, 2015). Furthermore, frequently these translations were above all in the past an opportunity to add appendices that
contained updates, insights and integrations written by the translators and therefore they are partly extraneous to the original texts.
Also Giovanni Poleni proposed a translation of this kind, publishing in 1739 the Exercitationes Vitrvvianae primae: hoc est Ioannis
Poleni commentarivs criticvs de M. Vitrvvii Pollionis architecti. This phenomenon affects not only Vitruvius’s book, but also some of the
best-known treatises of the Italian architects of the sixteenth century as previously seen (Leon Battista Alberto; Antonio Averlino Filarete;
Sebastiano Serlio; Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola; Andrea Palladio; etc). Sometimes the authors themselves translated their own
books, as in the case of Francesco Algarotti, who translated into German his treatise Saggio sopra l’architettura of 1756 (Versuche
über die Architectur, Mahlerey und musicalische Opera, 1769), suggesting a kind of synopsis with updates.Therefore the history of
translation into English of foreign ancient architectural treatises is at the same time ancient and highly topical even today. Nevertheless,
in the specific field of publications regarding building technologies there are no numerous examples of synoptical translation
into English, both in the recent past (Jenkins, 1955; White, 1961) and today (Middleton, 2007; McBrewster, 2010) or examples of
technical dictionaries and glossaries specifically conceived to support the translation of the ancient language of architecture from
Latin into modern languages, especially into English in the recent past (William Salmon, Palladio Londinensis: The Builder’s Dictionary,
Containing an Alphabetical Explanation of the Terms Used in Architecture, 1743; Anonimous, The rudiments of ancient architecture
with ... extracts form Vitruvius, Pliny & C. ... with a dictionary of terms, 1804) and currently (Curl, 2003). In regard to Poleni’s Memorie
Istoriche there are some interesting historical attempts aimed at analysing, summarizing and commenting on this book in Italian (Dotti
Gian Giacomo, Memorie critico-istoriche intorno alla cupola di S. Pietro in Vaticano e al risarcimento apprestatole dal Poleni, 1793) and
in English in the recent past (Vivian, 1963; Heyman, 1988) and today (Lopez, 2006; Marconi, 2009), but they are not extended
synoptical translations.
This set of considerations seems to provide evidence that the need to propose methods, strategies and tools for an expeditious and
at the same clear translations of historical treatises in the field of architecture and building
technologies is even today and perhaps more than in the past an issue that is debated too little.
5. Conclusions
The main scope of this research was, as described in the introduction, to give a partly methodological and partly applicative contribution
to the scientific debate about the criteria, methodologies and techniques of translating the historical scientific Italian literature in
the field of architectural restoration. Using the case study of the synoptic translation of Historic Memories represents merely a first
experiment that can be improved upon, for example, by integrating it with a literary translation of some of the most relevant chapters,
for instance, the part regarding the description of the retrofitting works. This would make evident the transformations and the choices
made in the translation, as well as identifying the differences between the synoptic and the literary translations that, however, due to the
complexity and the voluminosity of these essays is a particularly onerous and impractical translation method.
References
Benvenuto Edoardo, An Introduction to the History of Structural Mechanics. New York: Springer, 1991. Bernoulli Johann Curva
Catenaria, In Acta Eruditorum, Transazioni Filosofiche della società reale di Londra,
in Giornali Letterari Lipsiani. Leipzig: Collegiata, , 1670. Bianco Alessia, Machiatio.
Roma: Aracne, 2011.
Blondel Francesco, Discorsi intorno alla maniera migliore di descrivere geometricamente per l’Architettura gli Archi Rampanti, in
Memoires de l’Academie Royale des Sciences, depuis 1666 jusqu a 1699. Paris: Academie Royale des Sciences, 1700,
Edition, Tom. V.
Bowler Peter and Morus Iwan Rhys, Making modern science-A historical survey. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2005.
It should be noted that a large part of Giovanni Poleni’s scientific treatises is in Latin and this circumstance occurs for several coeval
80 | Translation Journal - July 2015
the latest scientific literature on the subject, but also the attitude to discussion and debate of these European authors, sharing,
exchanging and disseminating their writings.
B) architectural treatises, which can be classified in to kinds: the ancient ones (Vitruvio, 1567) and the treatises in the two centuries
before Poleni (Vasari, 1550; Barbaro, 1567; Serlio, 1575; Vignola, 1611). It is interesting to note Poleni seems to overlook
the technical treatises written by the authors of his time, which, as seen above, have less relevance in the European context of
architectural treatises than two centuries before, during which Italy was in an absolute pre-eminence position in Europe for these
specific issues.
C) about two hundred non-scientific books and various treatises on very different subjects , from history to moral philosophy ,
from numismatics to genealogy. These books are not interesting for the study of
mechanics applied to architecture, but they suggest the richness and complexity of the investigations,
conducted by Poleni to study the Dome and then the holistic approach adopted by him, under the methodological view point, in
conducting this research.
4.d. Examples of glossaries and synoptic technical translations in the field of architecture
The history of the translation of foreign architectural treatises into English is long and complex; certainly one of the best-known
examples concerns Vitruvius’s treatise, De Architectura, written at the end of the first century BC and translated from Latin into
modern languages since the sixteenth century, often with the addition of drawings and appendices (into Italian: Giovanni Sulpizio,
Victruvii Pollionis ad Cesarem Augustvm De architectura, c1486-148; into Dutch: Walther Hermann Ryff, Vitruvii viri suae professionis
pertissimi De architectura libri decem, 1543; into Franch: Jean Martin, Architecture ou Art de bien bastir de Marc Vitruve Pollion, 1547;
into Spanish: Juan Gracian e Miguel de Urrea, De Architectura, dividido en diez libroz, traducidos del Latin en Casellano, 1582).
In this regard it is interesting to note that the first complete English translation of Vitruvius’s treatise was published only two centuries
later (Anonymous, An abridgment of the Architecture of Vitruvius, 1692). Still today new editions and translations, mainly into English,
are published (Gwilt, 2015). Furthermore, frequently these translations were above all in the past an opportunity to add appendices that
contained updates, insights and integrations written by the translators and therefore they are partly extraneous to the original texts.
Also Giovanni Poleni proposed a translation of this kind, publishing in 1739 the Exercitationes Vitrvvianae primae: hoc est Ioannis
Poleni commentarivs criticvs de M. Vitrvvii Pollionis architecti. This phenomenon affects not only Vitruvius’s book, but also some of the
best-known treatises of the Italian architects of the sixteenth century as previously seen (Leon Battista Alberto; Antonio Averlino Filarete;
Sebastiano Serlio; Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola; Andrea Palladio; etc). Sometimes the authors themselves translated their own
books, as in the case of Francesco Algarotti, who translated into German his treatise Saggio sopra l’architettura of 1756 (Versuche
über die Architectur, Mahlerey und musicalische Opera, 1769), suggesting a kind of synopsis with updates.Therefore the history of
translation into English of foreign ancient architectural treatises is at the same time ancient and highly topical even today. Nevertheless,
in the specific field of publications regarding building technologies there are no numerous examples of synoptical translation
into English, both in the recent past (Jenkins, 1955; White, 1961) and today (Middleton, 2007; McBrewster, 2010) or examples of
technical dictionaries and glossaries specifically conceived to support the translation of the ancient language of architecture from
Latin into modern languages, especially into English in the recent past (William Salmon, Palladio Londinensis: The Builder’s Dictionary,
Containing an Alphabetical Explanation of the Terms Used in Architecture, 1743; Anonimous, The rudiments of ancient architecture
with ... extracts form Vitruvius, Pliny & C. ... with a dictionary of terms, 1804) and currently (Curl, 2003). In regard to Poleni’s Memorie
Istoriche there are some interesting historical attempts aimed at analysing, summarizing and commenting on this book in Italian (Dotti
Gian Giacomo, Memorie critico-istoriche intorno alla cupola di S. Pietro in Vaticano e al risarcimento apprestatole dal Poleni, 1793) and
in English in the recent past (Vivian, 1963; Heyman, 1988) and today (Lopez, 2006; Marconi, 2009), but they are not extended
synoptical translations.
This set of considerations seems to provide evidence that the need to propose methods, strategies and tools for an expeditious and
at the same clear translations of historical treatises in the field of architecture and building
technologies is even today and perhaps more than in the past an issue that is debated too little.
5. Conclusions
The main scope of this research was, as described in the introduction, to give a partly methodological and partly applicative contribution
to the scientific debate about the criteria, methodologies and techniques of translating the historical scientific Italian literature in
the field of architectural restoration. Using the case study of the synoptic translation of Historic Memories represents merely a first
experiment that can be improved upon, for example, by integrating it with a literary translation of some of the most relevant chapters,
for instance, the part regarding the description of the retrofitting works. This would make evident the transformations and the choices
made in the translation, as well as identifying the differences between the synoptic and the literary translations that, however, due to the
complexity and the voluminosity of these essays is a particularly onerous and impractical translation method.
References
Benvenuto Edoardo, An Introduction to the History of Structural Mechanics. New York: Springer, 1991. Bernoulli Johann Curva
Catenaria, In Acta Eruditorum, Transazioni Filosofiche della società reale di Londra,
in Giornali Letterari Lipsiani. Leipzig: Collegiata, , 1670. Bianco Alessia, Machiatio.
Roma: Aracne, 2011.
Blondel Francesco, Discorsi intorno alla maniera migliore di descrivere geometricamente per l’Architettura gli Archi Rampanti, in
Memoires de l’Academie Royale des Sciences, depuis 1666 jusqu a 1699. Paris: Academie Royale des Sciences, 1700,
Edition, Tom. V.
Bowler Peter and Morus Iwan Rhys, Making modern science-A historical survey. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2005.
It should be noted that a large part of Giovanni Poleni’s scientific treatises is in Latin and this circumstance occurs for several coeval
80 | Translation Journal - July 2015
