Traugott Lawler’s edition and translation of the thirteenth-century Parisiana poetria has been a valuable resource for scholars of medieval rhetoric and poetics since it was first published by Yale University Press over forty years ago. Now John of Garland’s uniquely comprehensive art of poetry and prose has been made available again, in an attractively produced and reasonably priced volume from the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library (DOML) series. Thoroughly revised and updated, this new version of Lawler’s already excellent edition and translation will be the one to consult and cite even for those of us who own well-used copies of the original [1974] version.
By my count, there are at least seventy-five changes in nearly 200 pages of Latin text. These changes to the Latin text are not nearly as pervasive as those to the accompanying translation, which has been improved on nearly every page. While many of those improvements are dictated by the emendations or corrections in the Latin text just mentioned, even more of them represent either reinterpretations of the text (at times informed by a newly recognized source or analogue) or modifications that improve clarity and ease of comprehension without affecting meaning. Translations are also provided for contents that were left untranslated in 1974, such as Latin titles of hymns in the facing translation and quotations of secondary scholarship in languages other than English in the Notes to the Translation. Such revisions help make the book more accessible to medievalists-in-training and non-specialist readers without in any way diminishing its value for experts.
Having admired and profited from the original version throughout my scholarly career, I am grateful to Lawler for investing the time and effort to update and revise it, and I eagerly anticipate his next contribution to the DOML series: a much-needed new edition and translation of Gervase of Melkley’s art of poetry and prose.
Martin Camargo
Journal of Medieval Latin
