Adding and Subtracting: Plautine Volgarizzamenti at the Este Court and the Case of Girolamo Berardo

Beginning with an overview of the intense translation activity of Plautine texts at the court of Ercole d’Este and the famous lettera from Battista Guarino to Ercole himself conveying advice for a good vernacular translation: “adiungere et minuire et ridurre in forma de lo usitato parlare quelle antiche cose” (“Adding and subtracting and reducing those ancient words to the language in current use today”), this intervention will attempt to exemplify such a practice through the two translations (Mustellaria and Cassina) attributed by sixteenth-century printings to the obscure Girolamo Berardo from Ferrara, connecting them to the then declining period of the great theatrical festivals in Ferrara.