ABSTRACT

When describing the state of the bibliography of early British children’s books in 2005, Ruth Bottigheimer asserted that ‘Even a cursory glance at a list of early English children’s books reveals how large a presence translation is’ (2005: 21). This history of translations written for and read by children began by drawing attention to a host of translating schoolteachers and storytellers whose work children encountered. From Latin-English grammars, schoolbooks, religious texts, and courtesy books to the ever-popular fantastical romance, translators in the medieval and early modern periods brought instruction and pleasure or a mixture of the two to young readers. Some, like William Caxton or Sir Roger L’Estrange, were high-profi le fi gures for reasons other than their work as translators; others remain anonymous and invisible.