The fifteenth-century Catalan translation of the French "Danse macabre": A critical edition and English translation, from manuscript Miscel·lània 26, Arxiu de la Corona d’Aragó, Barcelona

Abstract

The present article focuses on ff. cxlr-cviiir of the manuscript Miscel·lània 26, Arxiu de la Corona d’Aragó, Barcelona, which contain the only extant version of the fifteenth-century Catalan translation of the French Danse macabre. The article contains a philological study of this section of the manuscript, with particular attention to the relationship between the Catalan version of the Danse macabre and its French sources: this study serves as an introduction to a new critical edition of the Catalan translation proposed in the second part of the article. The critical text consists of a parallel edition of the Catalan version and manuscript lat. 14904, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (MS BnF lat. 14904), which proves to be the witness of the French poem closest to the lost exemplar used by the Catalan translator. Both editions aim at finding a balance between readability and a conservative approach which preserves the historical character of the manuscripts. The critical text is preceded by editorial criteria and accompanied by a literal translation into modern English and editorial notes.