Research Dimensioning

a)      Analysis of the possibilities offered by the identified bibliography

The participants to the project have analysed a large number of histories of the language and literature, studies, catalogues containing old book and manuscript inventories, history and philology literature from Romania and abroad (catalogues, old book bibliographies, philology volumes): Virgil Cândea, Mărturii româneşti peste hotare, I-II, 1991, 1998, N.A. Ursu, Formarea terminologiei ştiinţifice româneşti, Ed. Ştiinţifică, Bucharest, 1962, idem, Contribuţii la istoria literaturii române. Studii şi note filologice, 1997, Contribuţii la istoria culturii româneşti. Studii şi note filologice, 2002, Contribuţii la istoria culturii româneşti în secolul al XVII-lea. Studii filologice, Ed. Cronica, Iaşi, 2003; in collaboration with Despina Ursu: Împrumutul lexical în procesul modernizării limbii române literare (1760-1860), I,  Studiu lingvistic şi de istorie culturală, 2004 în procesul modernizării limbii române literare (1760-1860). II. Part I, letters A-M, 2011, Part II, letters N-Z, 2011. Gabriel Ştrempel, Catalogul manuscriselor româneşti, Ed. Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică, Bucharest, vol. I, 1978, vol. II, 1983, vol. III, 1987, vol. IV, 1992. C. Litzica, Catalogul manuscriptelor greceşti din Biblioteca Academiei Române, vol. I, Bucureşti, 1909. Nestor Camariano, Catalogul manuscriselor greceşti. Biblioteca Academiei Române, II‑numerele. 931‑1066, Bucharest, 1940.  Olimpia Mitric, Cartea românească veche în judeţul Suceava. Catalog, Suceava, 2005. idem, Cartea românească veche în judeţul Suceava. Catalog, Suceava, 2005. Florian Dudaş, Manuscrisele româneşti din bisericile Bihorului. Part II, Literatura medievală şi catalogul manuscriselor, Ed. Episcopiei Ortodoxe Române a Oradiei, Oradea, 1986. idem, Manuscrisele româneşti medievale din Crişana, Facla, Timişoara, 1986. Ştefan Lemny, Românii în secolul XVIII. O bibliografie, vol. I, Iaşi, 1988. Elena Dima/ Gheorghe Buluţă/ Simona Ceauşu, Carte românească veche în bibliotecile documentare ale arhivelor statului, Bucharest, 1985. Ana Andreescu, Cartea românească în veacul al XVIII‑lea. Catalogul ilustraţiilor, Ed. Vremea XXI, Bucharest, 2004. Sathas, Neoelliniki filologia 1453-1821, Athens 1868. Papadopulos Vretos, Neoelliniki filologia, Athens, 1854. N. Marinescu, Petronel Zahariuc, Ion Caproşu, Documente româneşti din arhiva mănăstirii Xiropotamu de la Muntele Athos I-II, as well other catalogues of university, city, regional libraries throughout Romania.

After the browsing of catalogues and specialised papers, we have obtained a number of over 2.500 sheets, on which basis the dimension of the research was established: 234 translations were retained, most of them in Cyrillic manuscripts. As number of pages, the selected texts include over 50.000 pages of Cyrillic manuscript and aprox. 1.500 pages of printed text.

b)      The establishment of the dimension and limits of the research

The very large amount of materials to cover, the limited time and the relatively small number of collaborators have been analysed realistically. In order to finalise a theme of such dimensions, previous philological studies will be used to cover many aspects connected with the authorship and dating of manuscripts, the linguistic features of an analysed text.

It will be of great help the parallel research carried out in the framework of an ERC-like project that focuses on 6 translations from the same period (Patrick Gordon, Geografia,  Vincezo Cornaros, Erotocrit, Voltaire, Ist. lui Carol al XII-lea, Metastasio, Achille, Cesare Croce, Viaţa lui Bertoldo, Moldavian version, Millo, Istoria universală).

While information gets completed, other translations could be added while others, as data are corrected, will be deleted.

We have also downloaded from the internet the Western culture texts relevant to the project that are available on-line. On this occasion, it could be noticed that, in some cases, the originals needed can be found in a single known copy or in very few copies, in libraries from countries different from the country of publication, therefore some other mobilities than the ones initially envisaged are necessary.

c)      Bibliography study – history of Romanian literary language, interpretation of Cyrillic script

The team members, especially younger ones or those who are graduate in foreign languages, were required, in addition to the precise, quantitative activities, to study a general bibliography of the question in order to acquire the theoretical knowledge necessary to the elaboration of the subject: history, European cultural history in the period investigated, history of the Romanian language, its peculiarities and the interpretation of the Cyrillic script.

In the case of younger collaborators, the learning of the documentation and research methodology has been followed, while they were entrusted with precise duties (for the translations from Italian, German or French).