The Medieval World of Isidore of Seville: Truth from Words, and: The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (review)

Isidore of Seville, seventh-century bishop, scholar and saint, was immensely influential throughout medieval Europe. Almost 750 years after his death, he was described by John Gower as 'the perfect cleric'; Dante had earlier placed his 'burning spirit' within the circle of the Sun in Paradise. Isidore's reputation rested mostly on his monumental encyclopaedic compendium, the Etymologies, which survives in more than 1,000 medieval manuscripts and at least eleven printed editions before 1500. And yet Isidore has been largely forgotten for centuries outside the narrow circle of medieval scholarship – at least until his surprising revival in the last ten years as one of the leading candidates for the position of patron saint of the Internet.

The Etymologiesare a vast treasure-trove of Classical learning and information on almost every conceivable subject, loosely organized into twenty thematic chapters. Each entry presents the putative etymology of the Latin term, followed by descriptive and explanatory material drawn from Classical authors. The text is almost entirely a careful patchwork of excerpts and paraphrases of various earlier sources, with Isidore drawing on an extensive range of Latin encyclopaedic and lexicographic works.

The first modern edition of the Etymologieswas published by W. M. Lindsay in 1911. A new edition, published by Les Belles Lettres in Paris, has been in progress since 1981, with six volumes (up to Book XIII) now having appeared. There are two complete twentieth-century translations into Spanish, as well as parallel translations accompanying the new edition. In this context, the appearance of the first complete English translation of the entire work is very welcome indeed.

Barney and his collaborators have used Lindsay's edition as their base, but have cross-checked their work against the Spanish translations and the new edition (though vol. 6, published in 2004, seems to have appeared after their translation was completed). Emendations to Lindsay's text are given in footnotes rather than incorporated into the text. The translation is 'fairly literal' (p. 28), and is designed to provide clarity rather than elegance. In numerous places, the sense requires that the Latin word be given in brackets after the English word, since so much of Isidore's discussion focuses on the similarities and resonances between the form and sound of Latin words, e.g. decrepit ( decrepitus), twilight ( crepusculum) and chattering ( crepare) (p. 217).

The translation is accurate, accessible and readable, though explanatory notes are kept to a minimum. There is also an index of important terms and proper names, as well as an analytical table of contents, accompanied by an index of Greek words and an index of citations from Classical authors and the Bible. The translators also provide a lengthy introduction, covering the sources and influence of the Etymologiesalong with Isidore's life and works. This serves as a useful survey of the current state of knowledge about Isidore and his work, although other reviewers have noted some gaps in the coverage of the extensive Spanish scholarship on Isidore and an apparent cut-off date of 2003.

Hot on the heels of the first complete English translation comes the first complete English commentary on the Etymologies– or rather a complete reading of, and through, Isidore's work. John Henderson brings his classicist's expertise to bear on Isidore's 'compelling attempt to systematize the conceptual archive of Roman memory' (p. x). Henderson's basic point is that the Etymologiesare more than just a storehouse of learning; they form a 'cumulative cosmography', a narrative which teaches us how book culture can be used to model how to think and how to impose conceptual order on the world, and which reveals the...