Translation case studies: syntax

What to do about the long sentences?

Mendels and Damsteegt wrote about the characteristics of Leeuwenhoek's language that challenged those who translated the transcriptions that they had made. However, other than John Chamberlayne, none of the translators wrote about the process. We can see from their translations the decisions they made about Leeuwenhoek's diction and syntax. They usually wrote grammatically correct English sentences whether or not the Leeuwenhoek's Dutch sentence was grammatically correct. Other times, it was simpler to just put a period and start a fresh sentence.

Take the longest sentence from Letter 18 (AB 26) of October 9, 1676. It was translated by Oldenburg, Dobell, and Swaen.

Leeuwenhoek's Dutch from the Alle de Brieven / Collected Letters transcript

Oldenburg's translation in Philosophical Transactions, vol   , number, date

Swaen's translation in Alle de Brieven / Collected Letters

Take the longest sentence from Letter    . It was translated by John Chamberlayne and Elze Greve-Br?