Wearing my translation hat, I’m a professional translator, based in Edinburgh, with 30+ years of experience. In August 2019 I was very pleased to be admitted as a Fellow of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (FITI), having first joined the ITI back in 1989. I work for clients throughout Europe (UK, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy) using my main language combination, Italian into English. I have been a member of the Translators Association (part of the UK-wide Society of Authors) since 2001 and also secretary of the Society of Authors in Scotland (2015-18).
My work as a translator focuses primarily on my own areas of specialisation, namely history, architecture, art history and the humanities in general – with a recent foray into translating a historical thriller (more below).
I also have a background in commercial translation, specialising in two areas: articles for magazines and newspapers; legal and policy translation for the EU and for law firms, mainly in Italy.
As an academic myself, I particularly enjoy working on the translation of academic papers – whether for journals or conferences – as well as longer works. I have translated a variety of non-fiction books, working with publishers such as Polity and Viella, among others.
The translation of primary sources – Italian Renaissance letters and documents – is a rather niche specialisation that combines my historical and linguistic knowledge.
My latest translation is by Antonio Forcellino, and the English title is The Sistine Chapel. History of a Masterpiece (Polity, 2022). Forcellino has found a new angle on this pivotal building at the heart of church history. By highlighting the development of the artists involved and their working practices over the sixty-year story of the Sistine Chapel – from the 1480s to the 1540s – Forcellino explores the competition that led to a sequence of masterpieces and to what he dubs the start of modern art. You can read an insightful review of it by Philippa Joseph for History Today.
Recent translations are listed under the “New Books” tab, or click here. They include Antonio Foscari, Living with Palladio in the Sixteenth Century (Lars Mùller, 2020), a historical murder mystery by Maria Luisa Minarelli, Murder in Venice (2019), Sandro Carocci’s Lordships of Southern Italy (Viella editori, Rome), and Antonio Forcellino’s Leonardo da Vinci. A Restless Genius (Polity) and Raphael. A Passionate Life (Polity).
A collaborative project led by Michael Bury and Carol Richardson also resulted in my involvement in the translation of Andrea Giovanni Gilio’s Dialogue on the Errors and Abuses of Painters. The translation is published by Getty Publications (Yale University Press) and is accompanied by chapters by Michael Bury, Carol M. Richardson, and myself.
Thanks for visiting this blog/website. Please get in touch using the contact page above to discuss any translation or editing project.
All website material copyright © 2023 Lucinda Byatt
I was experimenting with Thinglink – so here’s a very short sequence!
Click here to view the accessible version of this interactive content
A World of Words-Lucinda Byatt 