TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.
The Council of the Sydenham Society having done me the honor of consulting me respecting a proposed volume of translations from the Works of Hippocrates, I ventured to give it as my opinion that such a selection ought to comprehend the whole of those Treatises which are now regarded as genuine; and this suggestion having been approved of, I was appointed to the task of translating and editing them according to the best of my judgment. The design, then, of the present Work,[1] is to give a translation of all the genuine remains of the Great Hippocrates, along with such an amount of illustration as may be sufficient to render them intelligible to any well-educated member of the profession at the present day. It was understood, indeed, when I first engaged in this undertaking, that I was merely to give a faithful translation of the original; but I soon became satisfied, that a considerable amount of illustration, in the form of Annotations, Arguments, and so forth, would be indispensable to the general utility of such a publication. It is well known that many parts of my author’s works are very obscure, owing to the conciseness of the language, and the difficulty which now exists of properly apprehending the views entertained on certain abstruse questions at so very distant a period; and, consequently, it will readily be understood, that a simple version, without either comment or illustration, would have been nearly as unintelligible to most of my readers as the original itself. And that the works of Hippocrates stand in need of illustration is rendered apparent from the number of commentaries which have been written upon them in all ages, commencing almost with his own time. But whether or not I have been fortunate enough to give just such an amount of illustration as was necessary, and have taken proper care at the same time not to load my pages with superfluous matters of this description, must be left to the judgment of my readers to determine. However, I may be permitted to say, that whatever value shall be put upon my performances in this line, I have certainly spared no pains to make myself well acquainted with the true doctrines of my author, and that for this purpose I have consulted all the best authorities to which I could obtain access, from the commentaries of Apollonius and Galen down to the learned labors of several continental scholars, my contemporaries, especially Dr. Ermerins, of Holland, and MM. Littré and Malgaigne, of France. I flatter myself it will also be admitted, that I have further collected from a variety of sources, a considerable store of valuable material, for which I am in nowise indebted to any of my predecessors in the same field of research.
Considering how scanty all the information is which the English language can supply on many questions connected with the medical literature of the ancients, I have judged it necessary to enter into a discussion of several of those subjects, in order to prepare my readers for understanding the doctrines of my author. These are contained in the Preliminary Discourse, and will be found to relate principally to the origin of Grecian Medicine, to the Biography of Hippocrates, and an analysis of the works which bear his name, and to an exposition of the principles of the Physical Philosophy which form the basis of most of the hypotheses which occur in the Hippocratic Collection. Having bestowed much pains on the illustration of the philosophical tenets of the ancients, I shall feel anxious to learn how far the judgment pronounced by me on various controverted points is approved of by persons possessing the necessary degree of information to enable them to form a correct estimate of them, along with a proper degree of candor in judging between the conventional opinions of the present time, and those which prevailed in so remote an age.
That I have imposed upon myself a very serious additional task, by engaging not only to give a true version of the language of my author, but also to expound his opinions, and place them, so to speak, in juxtaposition with those of the present age, will be readily admitted; and I have reason perhaps to apprehend, that I have thereby exposed myself to the strictures of a certain class of critics, who have formed to themselves a very different ideal of the duties of a translator, fancying that he ought merely to concern himself with the words of the original author, and not venture to sit in judgment on the doctrines. I shall not attempt, however, any formal defense of the method which I have pursued, but may be allowed to remark, that, if I shall be found to have failed in satisfying the reasonable expectations of such readers as are sincerely desirous of becoming familiarly acquainted with the opinions of an author, whom I verily believe to be the highest exemplar of professional excellence which the world has ever seen, it is not from want of zeal in the discharge of the arduous duties which I had undertaken.
I have little left to say in this place respecting most of the critical subjects connected with the work, as I have entered at considerable length into the discussion of these matters in the Preliminary Discourse. It is proper, however, to acknowledge that I have derived great assistance from M. Littré’s excellent edition, of which the parts already published embrace all the treatises here given, with the exception of the last four. On all occasions I have freely availed myself of his labors, more especially in amending the text, in which respect his edition undoubtedly surpasses all those which preceded it. I have also not neglected to consult all the other standard editions, especially those of Foës, Van der Linden, and Kühn, and likewise, as will be seen, many other editions of separate treatises, so that, altogether, I trust it will be found that I have not often failed in attaining the true meaning of my author, as far as it can now be ascertained. I am aware, indeed, that, situated as I am, at a distance from public libraries, and deprived of personal intercourse with learned men of congenial pursuits whom I could consult in cases where I felt myself in doubt, I have labored under disadvantages which may render my work not so perfect in all respects as could have been wished; and that, by sending it to the press as soon as completed, it is not unlikely I may have left it disfigured by certain blemishes which multa dies et multa litura might have enabled me to remove. But the urgency of my other professional and private concerns forbade me to devote much longer time to any one task, however interesting or important; while the weight of increasing years, and the confirmed conviction of the endless nature of literary research on such a subject as this, disposed me, on the present occasion, to keep in mind the solemn admonition of my Author, that “Life is short, and Art is long.”
F. A.