[Sca-cooks] printed cookbooks prior to 1501 -- Platina

[Terry Decker]

> (About Platina)
>
>>So, we could call it a dietetic treatise which includes/ contains / 
>>incorporates the detailed and voluminous cookbook of Martino.
>
> Except that it doesn't contain or incorporate Martino. Martino' recipes, 
> at least ones I've looked at, are generally more detailed than the 
> versions given by Platina.
> -- 
> David/Cariadoc

I was comparing Platina and Martino this weekend and I think there are two 
probable points that can account for the variation.

Firstly, there are differences between the various manuscripts of Martino. 
Since Platina was a contemporary who apparently knew Martino, it is possible 
that he was working from the earliest copy; Martino's.

Secondly, Platina wrote in Latin.  In a translation from Italian to Latin, 
you are translating from a living to deceased language, thus from a growing 
vocabulary to a restricted vocabulary.  In some cases the words would not 
exist for a precise translation.  The translation of either text into 
English creates another set of linguistic discontinuities.

Bear