ABSTRACT
This chapter uses the French translations of James Harrington’s works produced between 1791 and 1795 as a vehicle for exploring certain limitations of the Cambridge School approach to the history of political thought regarding translated works. The focus on authorial intention tends to obscure the contribution made by genre and material factors to the meaning of texts and translations. As the chapter demonstrates, these elements can change between text and translation, thereby affecting the way in which a translated text is read. Translations also tend to be produced and read in different political and intellectual contexts from the original work. The chapter therefore puts the case for paying attention not just to authorial intention but also to that of editors and translators, printers, and booksellers. In the process, it demonstrates the layers of complexity that can be involved when ideas are transmitted via translated texts.
