List of English translations of De rerum natura

Titus Lucretius Carus
Lucy Hutchinson
Lucretius, Roman poet; and Hutchinson, possibly his earliest English translator.

De rerum natura (usually translated as On the Nature of Things) is a philosophical epic poem written by Lucretius in Latin around 55 BCE. The poem was lost during the Middle Ages, rediscovered in 1417, and first printed in 1473. Its earliest published translation into any language (French) did not occur until 1650; in English — although earlier partial or unpublished translations exist — the first complete translation to be published was that of Thomas Creech, in heroic couplets, in 1682. Only a few more English translations appeared over the next two centuries, but in the 20th century translations began appearing more frequently.

Only complete (or nearly complete) translations are listed. Notable translations of individual passages include the "invocation to Venus" by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene IV.X.44-47; and five passages in John Dryden's Sylvae (1685).

Key

Table

Year Translator Publication Source Notes
1600s*AnonymousIn mss: Bodl. MS. Rawl. D. 314.Gifanius (1595)Prose.
1650s*Hutchinson, LucyIn mss until Lucy Hutchinson's translation of Lucretius: De rerum natura. ed. Hugh de Quehen (1996) ISBN 0-472-10778-XPareus (1631)Heroic couplets.
1656Evelyn, JohnBook 1 only: An essay on the first book of T. Lucretius Carus De rerum natura (1656). Evelyn's complete extant translation (lacking Book 2) not published until John Evelyn's Translation of Titus Lucretius Carus: 'De rerum natura': An Old-Spelling Critical Edition ed Repetzki, (Peter Lang (2000) ISBN 978-0820443881)Lambinus (1570)Heroic couplets.
1682Creech, ThomasFirst edition published pseudonymously as "Daphnis"; subsequently under Creech's own name. Second edition (1683) at Google Books, often reprinted.Heroic couplets. The first complete English translation published, and the standard translation of the 18th century.
1743AnonymousOf the Nature of Things on Internet Archive "Plates by Guernier."Prose. Facing Latin text.
1805Good, John MasonThe Nature of Things: A Didactic Poem: Vol 1 on Internet Archive, Vol 2 on Internet Archive. Reprinted in John Selby Watson's translation On the Nature of Things (1851)Wakefield (1796-97)Blank verse. Facing Latin text.
1813Busby, ThomasThe Nature of Things: A Didascalic PoemHeroic couplets.
1851Watson, John SelbyOn the Nature of Things at Google Books, often reprinted.Forbiger (1828)Prose.
1864Munro, H.A.J.Text, commentary, and translation in volumes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Often reprinted: Vol 3 rpt. of 1900 on Internet Archive.Munro (1860)Prose.
1872Johnson, Charles FrederickOn the Nature of Things on Internet ArchiveMunro (1860)Blank verse. The first American translation.
1884Baring, Thomas CharlesThe scheme of Epicurus; a rendering into English verse of the unfinished poem of Lucretius, entitled "De rerum natura", ("The Nature of things") at Google BooksFourteener couplets.
1910Bailey, CyrilLucretius On the Nature of Things on Internet Archive. Often reprinted.Bailey (1898/1921)Prose.
1916Leonard, William ElleryOf the Nature of Things on Internet Archive. Reprinted in Everyman's Library.Guissani (1896-98)Blank verse. Facing Latin text.
1919Allison, Sir RobertOn the Nature of Things on Internet ArchiveMunro (1866)Blank verse.
1924Rouse, W. H. D.Lucretius: On the Nature of Things (Loeb revised edn. ISBN 978-0674992009)Rouse (Loeb 1924)Prose. Facing Latin text.
1925De Ford, Miriam AllenLucretius on The nature of thingsProse.
1929Jackson, ThomasTitus Lucretius Carus on the nature of thingsBailey (1921)Rhythmic prose.
1933Way, Arthur S.Lucretius on the problem of existence6-beat lines.
1937Trevelyan, R. C.De Rerum Natura. Selections published in 1920 as Translations From Lucretius on Internet Archive.Bailey (1921)Blank verse.
1946Bennett, Charles ErnestOn the nature of thingsVerse.
1950Brown, W. HannafordLucretius on the Nature of ThingsImitative dactyllic hexameters.
1951Latham, Ronald E.On the Nature of the Universe (Penguin Classics rev. by John Godwin (1994) ISBN 978-0140446104)Prose.
1956Winspear, Alban DewesDe rerum natura, by Lucretius, the Roman poet of scienceBailey (1921)Irregular iambics.
1963Johnson, L. L.On the Nature of ThingsImitative dactyllic hexameters.
1965Geer, Russel MortimerOn natureProse.
1965Mantinband, James H.On the nature of the universe (De rerum natura)6-beat lines.
1969Humphries, RolfeThe Way Things Are ISBN 0-253-20125-XRouse (Loeb 1924)Blank verse.
1969Smith, Martin FergusonOn the Nature of Things (revised edn. (2001) ISBN 978-0872205871)Prose.
1973Wooby, Philip F.Lucretius: about reality ISBN 978-0802221223Imitative dactyllic hexameters.
1974Bovie, PalmerLucretius: On the nature of Things. De Rerum Natura. A Modern Verse TranslationLeonard & SmithVerse.
1976Sisson, C. H.The Poem on Nature ISBN 978-18575472386-beat lines.
1977Copley, Frank O.The Nature of Things (Norton rpt. (2011) ISBN 978-0393341362)Bailey (1962)Loose blank verse.
1995Esolen, AnthonyOn the Nature of Things ISBN 978-0801850554Loose blank verse.
1997Melville, Sir RonaldOn the Nature of the Universe (Oxford World's Classics rpt. ISBN 978-0199555147)Rouse, rev. Smith (Loeb 1975)Blank verse.
2003Englert, WalterOn the Nature of Things ISBN 978-0941051217"Rough five or six beat line."
2007Stallings, AliciaThe Nature of Things (Penguin Classics ISBN 978-0140447965)Rouse, rev. Smith (Loeb 1975)Fourteener couplets.
2008Slavitt, David R.De Rerum Natura (The Nature of Things): A Poetic Translation ISBN 978-05202559376-beat lines.

References

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