![Sample our Language & Literature journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5941/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Language-Literature.jpg"})
Abstract
The Journal des Sçavans and the Philosophical Transactions were the first two academic periodicals, and in their early years each frequently translated items taken from the other. In one such case, an item in the Journal des Sçavans which was a translation of a piece from the Philosophical Transactions, provoked a critical letter subsequently published in the French periodical. This letter produced a virulent response from the Philosophical Transactions’ editor, Henry Oldenburg. Study of a number of linguistic features, including process types and thematic structure shows that while there are a number of small differences between the source text and its translation, none of them are particularly significant. It is likely that Oldenburg’s riposte fits into a pattern of defending members of the Royal Society against foreign criticism.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 These may not be academic publications in the contemporary sense, but there is a direct historical line from these to modern academic journals, and, indeed, both of these still exist, and their modern versions are definitely “academic”. The readers of these early publications were the intellectuals and educated classes of the time.
2 The texts can be found on the site of the French Bibliothèque nationale: https://gallica.bnf.fr/acceuil/fr/acceuil-fr?mode=desktop. The English texts can also be found on the site of the Royal Society: https://royalsociety.org.
3 Extracts and examples taken from the Philosophical Transactions and the Journal des Sçavans follow the original spelling and typesetting as far as possible with the exception of “long s” which has been replaced by a modern “s”.
4 Relevant parts of examples are printed in bold.