About this book
Lawrence Echard's Prefaces to Terence's Comedies and Plautus's Comedies (1694) unveils the craft of rendering Roman wit into Restoration English and illuminates the cultural journey of classical comedy. Echard’s prefatory essays survey Terence and Plautus as dramatists, unpacking their social satire, stagecraft, and the linguistic tightrope of translating terse Latin into lively English. Written at the close of the 17th century, these prefaces place the comedies in their historical context—showing how Restoration taste, performance, and prose style reshaped ancient texts for new audiences.
Part literary history, part translation manual, and infused with the sensibilities of Restoration comedy, Echard’s reflections anticipate modern debates about fidelity, readability, and the translator’s voice. His work won praise from later figures—most notably Robert Graves—who recognized Echard’s vigor in making Terence speak again to English readers. Accessible yet erudite, the essays explore how meaning, humor, and idiom cross linguistic and temporal borders.
Ideal for students of classical literature, translators, historians of theatre, and anyone who loves comedy and languages, this audiobook offers a vivid window into the reception of Roman drama and the enduring challenges of bringing ancient laughter into English.
