‘Non istà bene in buona teologia’: Four Italian Translations of Paradise Lost and the Vatican’s Policies of Book Censorship (1732–1900)

Abstract

This essay considers the interference of the Roman Inquisition and, in particular, of the Congregation of the Index, with the circulation of Italian translations of Milton’s Paradise Lost. It examines the means used by translators to elude ecclesiastical prohibition and describes the procedures of censorship of the Congregation of the Index. The main focus is on the two most successful Italian translations of Paradise Lost: those by Paolo Rolli (1730) and Lazzaro Papi (1811). Also considered is the case of two other minor translations — those by Felice Mariottini (1813–14) and Giovanni Francesco Cuneo D’Ornano (1822) — which were involved (or simply mentioned) in the inquisitorial procedures of the Congregation of the Index. This paper will demonstrate how, on the one hand, the fear of censorship influenced the translators who tried to adapt their renderings of Paradise Lost in order to appease the Holy See. On the other, it will highlight how the system of ecclesiastical censorship impacted on the circulation of these translations over the span of two centuries. Finally, the Vatican’s ideological position regarding faithfulness in translation is examined. In support for the thesis proposed here, I will unveil previously unpublished documents preserved in the archive of the Congregatio Pro Doctrina Fidei, the former Congregation of the Index. Through an analysis of these documents, I will give a complete picture of the inquisitorial policies adopted against selected translations of Paradise Lost, filling a lacuna in previous critical contributions that could not benefit from the study of such sources.