Cinquante pseaumes de David mis en francoys selon la verite hebraique.

In this important critical edition of Clement Marot's Cinquante pseaumes, Gerard Defaux engages in a reassessment of the translation work of Marot and offers a fresh perspective both on the textual sources used by the poet and on the reception of the Psalter in sixteenth-century France. The volume complements Defaux's previously published work on Marot and constitutes a worthwhile contribution to the history of sixteenth-century poetry and Marotic studies.

The point of departure of Defaux's study is what he sees as a need to shed new light on this often maligned and underestimated poet. Defaux's aim is to furnish a sufficiently accessible edition (unlike the previous studies by C.A. Mayer) that will contribute to the rekindling of scholarly interest in Marot.

The substantial four-part introduction (1-69) provides a rich critical commentary to the text. The first section reviews diverse contemporary and modern critical views of Marot's poetry in general and the pseaumes in particular, offering an explanation of why Marot remains prejudged as a largely unknown poet. Over the centuries Marot's critics have variously underscored his ineptitude for the poetic enterprise, his incompetence as a translator, and his lack of classical erudition; he was considered by some to be little more than a "barbouiller de papier," or, even more alarming, was criticized for his lack of doctrine; he was often considered to be an impious heretic (15). However, Defaux maintains that Marot was not false in his faith, and that it was the religious which shaped and inspired the development of much of his poetry.

The second introductory section highlights events in Marot's life, focuses on the enterprise of translating the pseaumes, and devotes attention to clarifying the socio-cultural circumstances surrounding the composition of the Psalter as well as to delineating the intellectual circles in which Marot himself moved. In particular, Defaux submits that it was Marguerite d'Alencon, future queen of Navarre, who suggested that Marot work on a French verse translation of the Psalms. The obvious goal was to contribute to the evangelization of the kingdom.

In the third introductory section Defaux offers a thorough examination of the text of the Psalter and announces his specific goals in enumerating a textual plan, mainly: "to attempt to reconstruct the experiences which Marot used as a translator, and to delineate the various texts the poet used to produce the work" (38-39). Defaux has selected as his base manuscript the 1543 Jean Gerard edition which was published in Geneva, and argues convincingly that Marot guided and supervised the edition which appeared while the poet was living in that city.

Defaux concludes the introduction by offering evidence that the Cinquante pseaumes were far from being, as someone recently declared, a simple "affaire de mode" (66) but rather quickly became for Marot, under pressure of circumstance and events, "une affaire extremement personnelle" (66). Defaux asserts they were the undeniable masterpiece of Marot's life; "the telos of his intellectual, poetic and religious journey" (69).

The introduction is followed by a solid chronological and critical bibliography and the complete text of the 1543 edition of the Psalms, together with valuable notes and, where appropriate, variants from other editions. The volume contains an appendix, indices (verborum and nominum), and table of contents, all of which provide rich critical material for the text.

We are much in Defaux's debt for an erudite history of the translations and a meticulously annotated edition of one of the best-selling works of the early Reformation. The study admirably explores sixteenth-century textual sources, makes an important contribution to our understanding of Marot and his role as translator of the Psalms, and clarifies the dual role played by the Psalter in reflecting and shaping the fabric of French Reformation culture and being shaped by it.

KAREN R. SORSBY California State University, Chico