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was collaboration. Luther s -Commentary on
Galatians- was undertaken by certain godly men,
of whom some began it according to such skill
as they had. Others godly affected, not suffer-
ing so good a matter in handling to be marred,
put to their helping hands for the better fram-
ing and furthering of so worthy a work. [255]
From Thomas Norton s record of the conditions
under which he translated Calvin s -Institution
of the Christian Religion-, it is not difficult to
feel the atmosphere of sympathy and encour-
agement in which he worked. Therefore in the
202 Early Theories of Translation
very beginning of the Queen s Majesty s most
blessed reign, he writes, I translated it out
of Latin into English, for the commodity of the
Church of Christ, at the special request of my
dear friends of worthy memory, Reginald Wolfe
and Edward Whitchurch, the one Her Majesty s
Printer for the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin tongues,
the other her Highness Printer of the books of
Common Prayer. I performed my work in the
house of my said friend, Edward Whitchurch, a
man well known of upright heart and dealing,
an ancient zealous Gospeller, as plain and true
a friend as ever I knew living, and as desirous
to do anything to common good, specially to
the advancement of true religion.... In the do-
ing hereof I did not only trust mine own wit or
ability, but examined my whole doing from sen-
tence to sentence throughout the whole book
with conference and overlooking of such learned
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men, as my translation being allowed by their
judgment, I did both satisfy mine own conscience
that I had done truly, and their approving of
it might be a good warrant to the reader that
nothing should herein be delivered him but sound,
unmingled and uncorrupted doctrine, even in
such sort as the author himself had first framed
it. All that I wrote, the grave, learned, and vir-
tuous man, M. David Whitehead (whom I name
with honorable remembrance) did among oth-
ers, compare with the Latin, examining every
sentence throughout the whole book. Beside all
this, I privately required many, and generally
all men with whom I ever had any talk of this
matter, that if they found anything either not
truly translated or not plainly Englished, they
would inform me thereof, promising either to
satisfy them or to amend it. [256] Norton s next
sentence, Since which time I have not been
204 Early Theories of Translation
advertised by any man of anything which they
would require to be altered probably expresses
the fate of most of the many requests for criti-
cism that accompany translations, but does not
essentially modify the impression he conveys of
unusually favorable conditions for such work.
One remembers that Tyndale originally antici-
pated with some confidence a residence in the
Bishop of London s house while he translated
the Bible. Thomas Wilson, again, says of his
translation of some of the orations of Demos-
thenes that even in these my small travails
both Cambridge and Oxford men have given me
their learned advice and in some things have
set to their helping hand, [257] and Florio de-
clares that it is owing to the help and encour-
agement of two supporters of knowledge and
friendship, Theodore Diodati and Dr. Gwinne,
that upheld and armed he has passed the
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pikes. [258]
The translator was also sustained by a con-
ception of the importance of his work, a con-
ception sometimes exaggerated, but becoming,
as the century progressed, clearly and truly de-
fined. Between the lines of the dedication which
Henry Parker, Lord Morley, prefixes to his trans-
lation of Petrarch s -Triumphs-,[259] one reads
a pathetic story of an appreciation which can
hardly have equaled the hopes of the author.
He writes of one of late days that was groom
of the chamber with that renowned and valiant
prince of high memory, Francis the French king,
whose name I have forgotten, that did translate
these triumphs to that said king, which he took
so thankfully that he gave to him for his pains
an hundred crowns, to him and to his heirs of
inheritance to enjoy to that value in land for-
ever, and took such pleasure in it that where-
206 Early Theories of Translation
soever he went, among his precious jewels that
book always carried with him for his pastime
to look upon, and as much esteemed by him
as the richest diamond he had. Moved by pa-
triotic emulation, Lord Morley translated the
said book to that most worthy king, our late
sovereign lord of perpetual memory, King Henry
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