The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such subjects as botany, zoology, and astronomy. Let us pass to the rest of the animals, and first those that live on land. Pliny the younger refers to tacituss reliance upon his uncles book, the history of the german wars. Buy pliny s natural history in thirtyseven books volume 2 on free shipping on qualified orders. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. This book is available with additional data at biodiversity. In 37 books, pliny the eldernot to be confused with his nephew, pliny the youngercovers botany, zoology, astronomy, geology, geography, mineralogy, and how each of these interact with roman life. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny. The largest land animal is the elephant, and it is the nearest to man in intelligence. The bronze statues in the spaces between the columns numbered 3,000, as i mentioned earlier.
Pliny the elder, william henry samuel jones translator 4. Pliny s last work, according to his nephew, was the naturalis historia literally natural history, an encyclopedia into which he collected much of the knowledge of his time. The table below is a summary based on modern names for topics. Librivox recording of the natural history, volume 1, by pliny the elder. Pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Free delivery on book orders dispatched by amazon over. Librivox recording of the natural history, volume 3, by pliny the elder.
Internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history. They are set out in the original text order of pliny the elder, and are then sequentially analysed. Publication date 1938 topics natural history publisher. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge the contents of the books are as follows. Plinys anthias may contain a confusion with acanthias, which is squalus acanthias, picked or piked dogfish, or centrina salviani. Volume i of the natural history of gaius plinius secundus. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in his 37volume treatise, he can be credited with the creation of the first scientific encyclopaedia. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best. Pliny the elder, roman savant and author of the celebrated natural history, an encyclopedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the middle ages. Care is taken to gather it without the use of iron, the right hand being passed for the purpose through the left sleeve of the tunic, as though the gatherer were in the act of committing a theft. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Some time in the first century ad, the roman scholar pliny the elder published his naturalis historia, or natural history. Neither the younger nor the elder pliny mention the names. Naturalis historia is a book about the whole of the natural world in latin by pliny the elder, a roman author and naval commander who died in 79 ad.
Mingling acute observation with often wild speculation, it offers a fascinating view of the world as it was understood in the first century ad, whether describing the danger of diving for sponges, the first waterclock, or the use of asses. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and. The natural history of pliny paperback november 18, 2009 by john bostock author, h. For the original article on pliny see dsb, see vol. Jan 22, 2020 volume 9 of pliny the elders natural history talks about a variety of sea monsters such as the giant bal. The lowest storey of the stage was of marble, and the middle one of glass an extravagance unparalleled even in later times, while the top storey was made of gilded planks. Plinys natural history, either directly or indirectly through quotes by later authors, greatly influenced the development of the bestiary and other medieval beast literature. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. American museum of natural history handbook series no. We should have now concluded our description of the.
Its frequent digressions into issues of morality and gossipy, occasionally rambling style would certainly not be at home in a modern encyclopedia, but its allencompassing scope covering botany, zoology, astronomy, geology. For centuries the natural history served as the western worlds primary source of scientific information and theory book i summarizes the entire contents of the work, listing the authors and sometimes. The homepage for plinys natural history the historia naturalis of c. Plinys natural history became a model for later encyclopedias and scholarly works as a result of its.
The only translation of plinys natural history which has hitherto appeared in the english language is that by philemon holland, published in the latter part of the reign of elizabeth. In ad 77, pliny published his famous 37volume work naturalis historia or natural history. Melvyn bragg and his guests discuss pliny s natural history. Pliny the elder 2379 ce, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled. Their ultimate source is a fragmentary inscription cil v 1 3442 found in a. Naturalis historia naturalis historia, 1669 edition, title page. The columns of the lowest storey were, as i have stated, each 38 feet high.
Medicinal uses of the human bodys own products and. Author pliny the elder country ancient rome subject natural history, ethnography, art, sculpture, mining, mineralogy genre encyclopaedia, popular science the natural history is a work by pliny the elder. While the monster is seldom described except for it being a large fish, there is still enough evidence to easily apply theses 5. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. He was later porcurator in gallia, whilst continuing to accumulate knowledge on. The natural history book vii with book viii 4 latin texts by bloomsbury isbn. Pliny the elder died in ad 79, while attempting the rescue, by ship, of a friend and his family, in stabiae, from the eruption of mount vesuvius, which already had destroyed the cities of pompeii and herculaneum. It is no disparagement to hollands merits, as a diligent and generally faithful translator, to say that his work is unsuited to the requirements of the. English translation of pliny the elder, natural history, book 36, 101204, by d. On pliny the elder and the monstrous natural history of the. Natural history, volume x, books 3637 loeb classical. Oct 14, 2018 the natural history of pliny paperback october 14, 2018 by the elder pliny creator 4. Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he wrote an encyclopedic work.
Natural history pliny wikimili, the free encyclopedia. Pliny the elder project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. As one of the largest and most comprehensive surviving works from the roman empire, pliny the elders natural history offers a rare glimpse into the scholarship of the ancient world. Pliny the elder 2379 ce produced in his natural history a vast compendium of roman knowledge.
Gaius plinius secundus ad 23 august 25, ad 79, better known as pliny the elder, was a roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early roman empire, and personal friend of the emperor vespasian. The natural history book vii with book viii 4 pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. Pliny the younger, latin in full gaius plinius caecilius secundus, born 6162 ce, comum italydied c. Unusually, the entire remarkable work it contains over a million words has survived intact it is one of the most substantial ancient works available to modern readers. On india xxvi 96 but before we go on to a detailed account of these countries, it is suitable to indicate the facts reported by onesicritus after sailing with the fleet of alexander round from india to the interior of farsistan, and quite recently related in detail by juba, and. Plinys natural history is an extraordinarily important document in the history of western science. Spending most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, pliny wrote the encyclopedic naturalis historia natural history, which. Aper or caper, xi 267 parasilurus aristotelis, a species of catfish. Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. Buy this product and stream 90 days of amazon music unlimited for free.
It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on. Gaius plinius secundus, 23 79 ce was a roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early roman empire, and friend of the emperor vespasian. The zoology chapters books 8 to 11 are frequently quoted, though pliny is not always acknowledged as the source. Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet.
Sing it songbird podcast natural living for a happy and healthy family coffee with friends liberando mentes. Pliny, natural history book 33, sections 194 translated by h. Synopsis each of the 37 38 books comprising the natural history 1 have been studied and the more important geographical facts extracted. Buy natural history penguin classics reprint by pliny the elder, john healey isbn. Naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to pliny. The world, and this whatever other name men have chosen to designate the sky whose vaulted roof encircles the universe is fitly believed to be a deity, eternal, immeasurable, a being that never began to exist and never will perish. The digital loeb classical library extends the founding mission of james loeb with an interconnected, fully searchable, perpetually growing virtual library of all that is important in greek and latin literature. Natural history pliny wikimili, the free encyclopedia wikimili, the free encyclopedia.
Click on the l symbols to go to the latin text of each chapter. Philemon hollands english translation of 1605 has influenced literature ever since. The story line is great and reading the book was just as good if not better than watching the movie. Plinys natural history in thirtyseven books volume 2. Plinys natural history was the goto encyclopedia for over 1,500 years, from its publication around the year 77 until well into the renaissance. His greatest and only surviving work, the natural history, has been called one of the most influential books ever written in latin. Gaius plinius secundus 23 ad august 25, 79 ad, better known as pliny the elder, was a roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early roman empire, and personal friend of the emperor vespasian. The natural history was one of the first ancient european texts to be printed, in venice in 1469. Direct observation, informed speculation and common knowledge are combined to present a key snapshot of ancient thought and the romans perspective on the.
Natural history pliny abebooks shop for books, art. The monster polices the borders of the possible from cohens monster theory. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. His sources were personal experience, his own prior works such as the work on germania, and extracts from other works. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny. Pliny s dates are pinned to the eruption of mount vesuvius in ad 79 and a statement of his nephew that he died in his 56th year, which would put his birth in ad 23 or 24 pliny was the son of an equestrian gaius plinius celer and his wife marcella. Topics included are the mathematics and metrology of the universe. Pliny whose full name was gaius plinius secundus, was born at comum in the region north of the po river and was educated in rome. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover all ancient knowledge. The works subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history. Mingling acute observation with often wild speculation, it offers a fascinating view of the world as it was understood in the first century ad, whether describing the danger of diving for sponges, the first waterclock, or the use of asses milk to remove wrinkles. Pliny the elder born gaius plinius secundus, ad 2379 was a roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early roman empire, and friend of emperor vespasian.
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