Antwort: 

von Jim46 (US), 2015-08-18, 22:50   Spam?  

to which he himself (Barthold Heinrich Brockes) had begun (the substitutions)
by contributing a clear and simple diction.  

I think the comma after "contributing" is incorrectly placed.

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von rabend (DE/FR), Last modified: 2015-08-18, 23:29   Spam?  

Antwort: 

von Jim46 (US), 2015-08-18, 23:45   Spam?  

You're right.  It should be which, not to which.

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von ddr (AT), 2015-08-19, 09:28   Spam?  

... zu denen (den bombastischen Imitationen) er selbst anfangs beigetragen hatte ...

Das Problem ist, dass man im Deutschen eigentlich nicht zu Imitationen beiträgt, eher zu ihrer Zahl, ihrer Menge, ihrer Fülle etc. Besser wäre also:

... zu deren Zahl er selbst anfangs beigetragen hatte ...

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von uffie (GH/KI), 2015-08-19, 12:29   Spam?  

He was one of the first German poets to substitute the bombastic imitations of Marini with a clear and simple diction. He had initially contributed to them.

A rather convoluted sentence.

Antwort: 

von anonymous, 2015-08-19, 15:09   Spam?  68.131.98....

To make it clearer, one could recast the sentence so that its structure reflects the sequence of events: Brocke initially imitated Marini's bombastic style, but then became one of the first German poets to use clear and simple diction.

Chat:     

von Deseret (SI), Last modified: 2015-08-19, 16:06   Spam?  

by contributing to which he himsef had begun

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von anonymous, 2015-08-19, 16:26   Spam?  68.131.98....

Well, Brockes translated one of Marini's Italian-language poem into German, but I can't quite believe that this could have been meant by "contributing."  I suppose it's possible, but will stick with with "imitating."
The sentence is from the Brockes entry in the 1910 Encylopaedia Britannica, so it's written in that dated and (to our ears) convoluted style. The entry was lifted almost verbatim from the E.B. and pasted into Wikipedia, interesting.

Chat:     

von uffie (GH/KI), 2015-08-19, 16:41   Spam?  

Wikipedia is incredibly useful but needs careful handling. A lot of the "translations" into German are pretty iffy.

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von rabend (DE/FR), Last modified: 2015-08-19, 17:26   Spam?  

Es ist ja der Marino des Marinismo gemeint. Fällt mir erst jetzt auf. Man steht manchmal auf der Leitung.

Da ist quasi der da  in die Leitung gekommen:

Wikipedia(DE): Marino_Marini

War mal sehr in Mode in den 50ern und 60ern.

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von anonymous, 2015-08-19, 17:30   Spam?  68.131.98....

I thought it was this guy: Wikipedia(NA): Giambattista_Marini  (1569-1625).

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von anonymous, 2015-08-19, 17:53   Spam?  68.131.98....

Ah, wait, ol' Giambattista also goes by "Marino." It's all clear now, at least to me. On Marino Marini: Yes, all the rage back in the day, with a whole horde of imitators.