There are eight complete translations of Gargantua and Pantagruel, plus one of just the first two parts.
For lots of details on all nine translations, please visit We Love Translations: World Literature in English:
» What’s the best translation of Gargantua and Pantagruel?
There are three modern translations in print, plus various updated versions of the original English translation from 1694, by Thomas Urquhart and Peter Anthony Motteux.
Urquhart’s parts of the translation are, like a lot of old, initial translations into English, not very exact. But maybe they don’t have to be; maybe energy, enthusiasm, and humor are more important in some sense, especially for a work like this one. Urquhart’s might not be the best translation, but it’s been around for hundreds of years; it’s a classic in its own right.
See below for a timeline and quotes describing some of the many various editions of the early translation efforts of Urquhart, and Motteux, who finished what Urquhart began.
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