I propose to
glance at the activities of certain translators who worked with official
permission if not encouragement from Spanish into English in the
mid-seventeenth century, and who aimed at other things.
In English government circles Spanish, Italian and French
official documents were translated as a matter of course, usually by
anonymous translators, and then often printed as broadsheets for
sale to the public, there being no Official Secrets Act. There was a
fair market for international treaties which were quite often
negotiated and published in Latin. The news did not have to be hot.
The Articles of Peace, Intercourse and Commerce signed by Charles
I of England and Philip IV of Spain on 5 November 1630 were printed
in both English and Spanish immediately on signing, and reissued
on the restoration of Charles II in 1660. Spains dealings with other
countries were also of interest to the British public. An English version
of the documents exchanged by France and Spain in preparation for
the Peace of Münster appeared in 1646, to be followed in 1648 by
an English version of the treaty between Spain and the Netherlands.
And 1659 saw The True and Exact Particulars of the Articles of Peace
and Mariage (sic) agreed between ~is most Catholick Majesty of
Spain and Most Christian King of France. Translation of explorers
and colonisers journals also has a long history in Britain, the most
important works of this type being Hakluyt and Samuel Purchass
Purchas His Pilgrimage (1613). Apart from that, campaign journals
from French, Spanish and Italian, and books on diplomacy and war
were translated, usually an ony mously, for the instruction of the
military, and published with the blessing of the authorities. In those
days independent printers often filled the role of information and
comment newspapers have taken today
