Giorgio Valla as a Translator of Aristotle. Philological Remarks on his Latin Translations of Poetics, Magna Moralia, and De Caelo

Abstract

In 1498, Giorgio Valla published a collection of translations from Greek into Latin. The selection of texts included in this edition is unprecedented, and it reflects Valla’s interests in ancient medicine, science, and philosophy. These new translations were not successful and were almost completely set aside as soon as other translations became available. In this paper, I will offer a first assessment of the three Aristotelian translations published by Valla and included in the 1498 incunable. Out of the three texts translated by Valla, only the Magna Moralia were not already available in a renaissance translation. This explains why only this translation enjoyed a rather wide success, being reprinted several times in the 16th century, while the other two suffered the competition of rival renderings. Valla is the author of the first printed translation of the Poetics. This translation was initially well received and was reprinted twice; it was later abandoned in favour of Alexander Pacius’ version, published in 1536. Valla’s third translation of Aristotle was that of the De Caelo. Despite its merits, Valla’s translation of the De Caelo was unsuccessful: John Argyropulus’ rendering had appeared in print only a few years earlier, and it became the standard reference in the following centuries. This article extends the analysis of Valla’s translations to the Greek sources used by the humanist.