Editing Texts from the Age of Erasmus

The editing of texts remains an important professional task for both the historian and the literary scholar. Originally presented at the Thirtieth Annual Conference on Editorial Problems held at the University of Toronto in November 1994 the six essays in this collection reflect on three successfully completed editing projects - the editions of the registers of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Paris, the registers of the Company of Pastors of Geneva in the time of Calvin, and The Complete Works of Thomas More. They also explore new initiatives, namely, the Independent Works of Tyndale, the records of the Consistory of Geneva, and the Peter Martyr Library; and provide an opportunity for stock-taking in two ongoing projects, the Opera Omnia Des. Erasmi published at Amsterdam and The Collected Works of Erasmus published at Toronto.

While focusing mainly on these particular editions and translations, the contributors also address such common issues as the problem of authorship, the difficulty of deciphering manuscript sources, the identification of minor historical figures, tracing quotations, and the need to produce idiomatically correct modern translations without diverging from the wording of the original source. In addition, the contributors offer valuable insights into the nature and process of scholarly collaboration and informed comment on the circumstances that allow such endeavours to flourish.

Erika Rummel is a professor emerita in the Department of History at Wilfrid Laurier University.