ALCORAN Alcorani Textus Universus ex correctioribus Arabum exemplaribus summa fide, atque pulcherrimis characteribus descriptus, eademque fide, ac pari diligentia ex Arabico idiomate in Latinum translatus ; appositis unicuique capiti notis, atque refutatione : His omnibus praemissus est Prodromus… Auctore Ludovico Marraccio.

Bevilacqua (Alexander), « The Qur’an Translations of Marracci and Sale », Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, vol. 76, 2013, p. 93-130 ; Girard (Aurélien), « Teaching and Learning Arabic in Early Modern Rome : Shaping a Missionary Language », dans The Teaching and Learning of Arabic in Early Modern Europe, éd. par Jan Loop, Alastair Hamilton et Charles Burnett, Leyde, Brill, 2017, p. 189-212 ; Glei (Reinhold F.) et Tottoli (Roberto), Ludovico Marracci at Work. The evolution of his Latin translation of the Qurʾān in the light of his newly discovered manuscripts. With an edition and a comparative linguistic analysis of Sura 18, Wiesbaden, Harrasowitz, 2016 ; Hamilton (Alaistar), « After Marracci : The Reception of Ludovico Marracci’s Edition of The Qur’an in Northern Europe from the Late Seventeenth to the Early Nineteenth Centuries », Journal of Qur’anic Studies, vol. 20, no 3, 2018, p. 175-192 ; Pedani Fabris (Maria Pia), « Ludovico Marracci : la vita e l’opera », dans Il Corano : traduzioni, traduttori e lettori in Italia, éd. par Giuliano Zatti, Milan, Centro Ambrosiano di documentazione per le religioni, 2000, p. 9-29 ; Pedani Fabris (Maria Pia), « Intorno alla questione della traduzione del Corano », dans Gregorio Barbarigo patrizio veneto vescovo e cardinale nella tarda controriforma (1625–1697). Atti del Convegno di studi (Padova, 7-10 novembre 1996), éd. par Liliana Billanovich et Pierantonio Gios, Padoue, Istituto per la storia ecclesiastica padovana, 1999, p. 353–365 ; Pedani Fabris (Maria Pia), « Ludovico Marracci e la conoscenza dell’islam in Italia », Campus Major, vol. 16, 2004, p. 6–23 ; Pizzorusso (Giovanni), « Ludovico Marracci tra ambiente curiale e cultura orientalista a Roma nel XVII secolo », dans Il Corano e il pontefice. Ludovico Marracci fra cultura islamica e Curia papale, éd. par Gian Luca D’Erruci, Rome, Carocci, 2015, p. 91-118 ; Tottoli (Roberto), « La vida de Muḥammad y sus fuentes en las obras de Ludovico Marracci, según sus manuscritos personales », dans Vitae Mahometi. Reescritura e invención en la literatura cristiana de controversia, Simposio internacional, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (España), 19-20 de marzo, 2013, éd. par Cándida Ferrero Hernández et Óscar de la Cruz Palma, Madrid, Consejo superior de investigaciones científicas, 2014, p. 291-304 ; Tottoli (Roberto), « Ex Historia Orientali Joh. Henrici Hottingeri… Ludovico Marracci and Reformed Sources according to his Manuscripts », Rivista di storia e letteratura religiosa, vol. 51, no 3, 2015, p. 691-702 ; Tottoli (Roberto), « New Light on the Translation of the Qurʾān of Ludovico Marracci from His Manuscripts Recently Discovered at the Order of the Mother of God in Rome », dans Books and Written Culture of the Islamic World. Studies Presented to Claude Gilliot on the Occasion of His 75th Birthday, éd. par Andrew Rippin et Roberto Tottoli, Leyde / Boston, Brill, 2015, p. 91-130 ; Tottoli (Roberto), « Ludovico Marracci », dans Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History, vol. 9, Western and Southern Europe (1600–1700), éd. par David Thomas et John A. Chesworth, Leyde / Boston, Brill, 2017, p. 791–800.

First edition of Ludovico Marracci’s (1612-1700) Alcorani textus universus. Of all the complete translations of the Quran into Latin, this is the only one that also includes the vocalized Arabic text. In the Western context, this work can be considered the first modern translation of Islam’s holy book. It had a considerable influence on subsequent translations and Oriental studies in Catholic and Reformed Europe. It also contains the first biography of Muhammad in Europe.

The book is divided into two volumes: a Prodromus ad refutationem Alcorani, “Prodrome to the Refutation of the Quran,” first published in Rome by Propaganda Fide in 1691, and a Refutatio Alcorani, “Refutation of the Quran.” In the second volume, Marracci included the Arabic text of the Quran and its Latin translation, as well as annotations and refutations. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the Quranic text, he draws on other Islamic sources, such as the commentaries of Ibn Abī Zamanīn, al-Maḥāllī, al-Suyūṭī, al-Bayḍāwī, al-Zamaḫšarī, and al-Ṯaʿlabī.

In the eyes of specialists, Marracci’s Alcorani textus universus is the most remarkable translation of the Quran produced in early modern Europe. No other translation of the Quranic text has achieved such philological precision, and no one else has based their work on such a wide collection of Islamic commentaries. Clearly, the main objective is polemical: Marracci is firmly convinced that he is developing a tool that will help Christian intellectuals refute Islamic doctrines. But despite this clear objective, the work marks an important milestone for Christian and European Orientalists of the following century. It is widely cited until the mid-19th century.

In 1691, Ludovico Marracci, confessor to Innocent XI, after more than forty years of studying the Quran and various Muslim commentators, published the first volume, a Prodomus to an edition of the Quran, which contained the first biography of Muhammad in Europe based on Arabic sources and which Hinckelman praised in his Arabic edition of the Quran in 1694. In 1698, Marracci completed his work with an annotated translation of the Arabic text and a refutation. Marracci intended this monumental work to serve as a vade mecum for missionaries in Islamic lands, enabling them to refute point by point any objections raised by their Muslim opponents.

The work presents itself in the dual and singular form of a commented translation of Islam’s sacred text and a complete questioning of it, both in terms of the doctrine as a whole, refuted in the preamble, and in terms of the propositions refuted one after the other. This arrangement was probably due to Pope Alexander VIII’s defense, on the occasion of Bibliander’s reissue of the Corpus Clunisien, of publishing the Quran either in the original text or in translation. But, as a result, Marracci’s undisputed merit was that he was the first to study and disseminate the Arabic sources of Islamic religious doctrine.

“The date of the 17th century does not occur by chance but is usually connected to the appearance at the end of it of the Latin translation and critical discussion of the Qur’ân by Ludovico Marracci (1612–1700). Marracci was a member of the order of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God, a prominent figure in the Catholic Rome of his time, and even confessor to Pope Innocent XI, but at the same time he was a renowned scholar of Oriental languages and the author of many works. Amongst these works, his major accomplishment was his Alcorani textus universus which appeared in 1698 in Padua. Ludovico Marracci is generally considered today as the first “modern” Western translator of the Qur’ân, the first one to make wide use of Islamic exegetical and other sources and the translator who produced the first faithful and correct translation from the Arabic. This is almost taken for granted in the works related to these topics which have been appearing over the last few years. Thus, in this line of thought, we find it stated that Marracci’s translation was in fact the “best ever made translation into Latin.”

According to Bernard Lewis, in his essay on Islam and the West, “Marracci knew Arabic very well, and he consulted a wide range, impressive for that time, of Arabic sources.” It is taken for granted that Marracci’s translation “outclassed early efforts.” Specialists in the field of Western translations and scholars of Muslim exegesis share the same high opinion. Bobzin stresses his high esteem for Marracci’s translation in various works. Notwithstanding the work’s vigorous polemical intent and contents, Bobzin praises “its undeniable philological merits” (Roberto Tottoli, New Light on the Translation of the Qur’ân of Ludovico Marracci from His Manuscripts Recently Discovered at the Order of the Mother of God in Rome, Brill, Islamic History and Civilization, 2015, vol. 113).

“[This edition was prepared by] Ludovico Marraccio (also known as Luiggi Marracci in Italian, 1612-1700) and published in Padova (Italy). The author was a monk of the Jesuite Order and, due to good education, had a good command of the Arabic language. The Pope appointed him as the professor of Arabic in the College of Wisdom – Sapienza University of Rome (in Italian, Sapienza means wisdom), for his proficiency in that language. He later declined the promotion of being appointed as Cardinal. His edition, preserved in various libraries, entitled as Alcorani Textus Universus (A complete text of the Qu’ran) and is published in 2 volumes. There are two main texts in these volumes : the first one is the Arabic original and the second one is the Latin translation. The edition also included a short outline of Muhammad’s (peace upon him) life, with notes and ‘refutations’ of Islamic beliefs. Luiggi Maracci’s introduction (Ad refutatione Alcorani) also compiled in a form of ‘refutation’ comparing the Qu’ran with the Christian doctrines. Nevertheless Marracci has acknowledged the importance of Islamic exegetics (tafsir) : in some parts of his explanations, he refers to ‘Beidavius’, and Zamchalcerius (meaning ‘Abd Allah al-Baydawi and Umar al-Zamalhshari, extremely popular in the Ottoman empire). There are also some links to ‘Thalebiensis’, meaning Abu Ishaq al-Thalabi… Marracci’s edition gained much popularity mostly due to its Latin translation, widely used by European Orientalists. This translation became an important source of other renditions: for instance the one by Georges Sale (first published in 1734) into English” (Mykhaylo Yakubo, History of Printing of the Qu’ran in Europe : Editions, their Quality and Accuracy, 20165, pp. 51-76).

“Ludovico Marracci’s translation of the Holy Quran (published 1698) is, in our view, one of the most elaborate translations of this text into European languages. The abundance of impressionistic and sketchy views on this translation which have been, by and large, evoked by Marracci’s anti-Muslims sentiments and arguments, have overshadowed his painstaking linguistic achievement… By the year 1698, the date of publication of Marracci’s translation, Muslim Turks were in control of all North Africa and a number of European countries. This seems to have evoked a number of translations of the Quran including the first German translation by Schweiggern (1623). Against this evolving background Marracci’s translation came to pin down the exact wording of the Quran in Latin, a task which was not undertaken by the first Latin translation by Retensis and Dalmati published in 1543… Marracci’s translation under the title Refutatio Alcorani is central to the study of the rise of a specific religious genre in European languages… The most striking aspect of Marracci’s translation of the Quran is the fact that, contrary to the general belief, and quite unexpectedly, following the flamboyant title, Refutatio Alcorani, it is ‘faithful to the original” (Omar A. Sheikh Al-Shabab, in : The Place of Marracci’s Translation of the Holy Quran, King Saud Univ. Vol. 13, Lang. & Transl. pp. 57-74).

Very good copy, from the library of the Princes of Liechtenstein (bookplate)