Too Good Is Bad: On a Forgotten Translation of the Book of Psalms From 1700

Abstract

This contribution is devoted to an English translation of the Book of Psalms made by John Caryll and David Nairne at the exiled court of James II in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The Psalmes of David, translated from the Vulgat first printed in 1700, received a corrected and revised edition brought out in 1704. Despite the significant place it occupies in the history of translations of the Psalter from the Vulgate into English, it has hardly received any scholarly attention. The paper examines the circumstances in which this translation emerged, looks at its language and compares it with its rival texts, examines its reception, circulation, and sociolinguistic context with a view to determining why the text ceased to be printed and why it has suffered neglect in the literature dealing with biblical translations. The contribution also presents for the first time the text of Psalm 1 from the newly discovered manuscript version of the Psalmes preserved in SCA in Aberdeen, Scotland.