This collection of essays is of interest not only to those working on early modern translations into the vernacular but also to scholars of the history of philosophy, applied technologies, the history of the book, and that of readership. During the last decade, different projects on early modern translations emerged, and previous research focused on linguistic and literary aspects generated theoretical frameworks. This book continues along the lines set out by Burke and Hsia (2007), who focused on translation as a cultural phenomenon and on the role of the translator.

How did translators mediate knowledge between language domains—through interpretation, selection, glossing, explicit citation, or, on the contrary, tacit translation and reworking of other language sources? What can be said about “the process of translation” (8)? The editors bring to our attention the importance of new readership sought by translators, and that of socioeconomic motivations. This is especially the case as translators operated often in the context of scholarly societies and networks (the theme of part 1), which generated translations on demand, sometimes not intended for the printing press and left in manuscript state. Part 2 of the collection is concerned with the translation of so-called books of secrets, which contain practical knowledge used by artisans, while part 3 studies translations of theoretical and philosophical texts.

Themes throughout the whole volume include translation as means to enter a network, the translation of images and ideas on universal language or independent reading (see especially Simon's essay), and the translator's auctorial position. How translating not only requires knowledge of two languages but also research into and experience with the subject matter is nicely illustrated by Michael Bycoft's article on the Traité des vernis (1723), a translation of Buonanni's treatise on lacquer—in which Bycoft is the first to show the work of Charles Dufay. By analyzing the latter's footnotes to the translation, the author traces three types of additions: those issuing from experiments with recipes, here and there correcting Buonanni's own translations; those completing the original's citations and references; and those testifying to the translator's observations of artisanal practice entailing applied chemistry. These competences as represented by the Traité des vernis helped Dufay entering the Académie des sciences in Paris, thus guaranteeing him a scientific career. How, in the early seventeenth century, translations became instrumental to the change of a whole domain of applied sciences is also illustrated by Thomas Morel's contribution on the introduction of Euclidian excerpts in a group of Saxonian manuscripts on mining. This happened by the intermediary of Christoph Puehler's vernacular text on geometry (1563), annotated and copied in the following century. More on mathematics, now as part of an editorial project to reach new, popular, readership, is offered by Charles van den Heuvel, on Simon Stevin, and by Richard J. Oosterhoff, in his essay on Charles de Bovelles's Livre singulier et utile touchant l'art et practique de geometrie (1542, revised in 1547). Joyce van Leeuwen's analysis of Niccolò Leonico Tomeo's Latin translation (1525) of Aristotle's Mechanics also reveals an editorial enterprise based on philological activities—as proved by a Vatican codex—and involving the use of diagrams and images for the final, printed version of the translation. The use of images from source into target language is addressed in Meghan C. Doherty's article, entitled “Visual Translation in Early Modern Learned Journals.” While Felicity Henderson treats the circulation of translations within the network of Robert Hooke, Jan van de Kamp discusses the role of the seventeenth-century polyglot Theodore Haak within the correspondence circle of Hartlib. Van de Kamp sheds light on Haak's theological translations in connection with the latter's interest in science and politics and as embedded in his network. Translation as paraphrase or commentary is exemplified by the cases of Gassendi's Latin translation of Epicurus (Garau), by Ibrahim Müteferrika's Copernicus translations into Turkish (Küçük), and by English translations of Galileo (Plescia).

In brief, this is a volume that presents a wealth of new discoveries and offers fresh insights where the articles discuss better-known topics. One might regret the absence of an Index rerum, while an Index nominum is provided.