|
|
Article: Goldsmith as translator of Voltaire.(Oliver Goldsmith)
- Article from:
- The Modern Language Review
- Article date:
- October 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Modern Humanities Research Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Generally speaking, Goldsmith scholarship has fallen on hard times in recent decades. Since the appearance of Friedman's standard edition of Goldsmith's works in the 1960s, (1) major studies have been few and far between. (2) This is a pity, since one feels that there is much still to be learnt. I intend here to consider one such area: Goldsmith's skill as a translator.
In 1924 Arthur Lytton Sells established Goldsmith's substantial debt to French literature, especially to Marivaux and the Encyclopedie. (3) In his essays, but also in his reviews for the Monthly and Critical Review, Goldsmith frequently drew on French sources. Often, he 'plagiarized', with no ...