American museum of natural history handbook series no. Pliny the elders most popular book is natural history. 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. In ad 77, pliny published his famous 37volume work naturalis historia or natural history. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in his 37volume treatise, he can be credited with. The natural history of pliny volume 6 digital collections. Pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to. The older man, gaius plinius secundus, is called pliny the elder. The natural history by pliny the elder free at loyal books. Featured texts all books all texts latest this just in smithsonian libraries fedlink us genealogy lincoln collection. Book vii of the natural history provides a detailed examination of the human animal and is.
Pliny the elder has 277 books on goodreads with 3818 ratings. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. 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. Book i summarizes the entire contents of the work, listing the authors and sometimes the titles of the books many of which are now lost from which pliny derived. As a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in ancient rome it is unparalleled. 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. Among the whole range of animated beings, the human fe 2151. 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. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny the. Comparison of focus and audience between senecas natural questions and plinys. In thirtyseven books by pliny the elder, 1847, printed for. This extraordinary work was originally composed and. The above is a description of the world, and of the lands, races, seas.
Philemon hollands english translation of 1605 has influenced literature ever since. 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 project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, vol i. 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. Such then is the present state of the world, and of the countries, nations, more remarkable seas, islands, and cities which it contains. 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. Plinys natural history has too often been regarded as simply a quarry for quaint storiesa view which has tended to overshadow its overall structure and purpose. Lives of pliny the elder and passienus crispus l039 caesar the civil wars.
The lists generally follow the order of the subject matter of each book. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. The nature of the animated beings which exist upon it, is hardly in any degree less worthy of our contemplation than its other features. No wonder, then, that an encyclopedia of natural history dating from the early roman empire was extraordinarily popular, not only in its own time but during and well after the renaissance. Pliny himself defines his scope as the natural world, or life.
Pliny the elder ad 2379 was a roman natural philosopher who was educated in rome and came into contact with celts during his military service in germany and gaul. Gaius plinius secundus 23 ad 25 august 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 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 project gutenberg selfpublishing. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history attalus. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such. Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. The table below is a summary based on modern names for topics. Its an encyclopedia of what passed for scientific information in that time. Pliny the elder naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. Natural history 1938 by pliny the elder, translated by h. Pliny the elder, latin in full gaius plinius secundus, born 23 ce, novum comum, transpadane gaul now in italydied august 24, 79, stabiae, near mount vesuvius, roman savant and author of the celebrated natural history, an encyclopaedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the middle ages.
His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. 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. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. Pliny s natural history has too often been regarded as simply a quarry for quaint storiesa view which has tended to overshadow its overall structure and purpose. Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. He was attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of mount vesuvius. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Natural history, encyclopaedic scientific work of dubious accuracy by pliny the elder, completed in 77 ce as naturae historiae and conventionally known as naturalis historia. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such subjects as botany, zoology, and astronomy. Pliny the elders natural history trevor murphy oxford. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder. Comparison of focus and audience between senecas natural. Pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. In the year 79, still admiral of the western fleet, pliny noticed a cloud over the city of pompeii. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by pliny, the elder author. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Agrippa, galliarum inter rhenum et pyrenaeum atque oceanum ac montes cebennam. His sources were personal experience, his own prior works such as the work on germania, and extracts from other works. 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. 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. The works subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history.
This has been shown in heinrich brunns disputatio bonn, 1856. Publication date 184749 topics natural history publisher london printed for the club by g. First posted in awol 2 june 2012, updated 18 apr 2020. 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 titles of. Pliny the elder, the natural history exploring celtic. He wrote the encyclopedic naturalis historia natural history, which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. These selections from the natural history are fascinating. I ran a first proofreading pass immediately after entering each book, so that the text of all the books is quite good already. Pliny the elders sister, plinia, married a man named caecilius, from the northern italian town of. The following is an adaptation of pliny the elder, the natural history, trans. Jan 06, 2014 no wonder, then, that an encyclopedia of natural history dating from the early roman empire was extraordinarily popular, not only in its own time but during and well after the renaissance. While serving in this position he also found time to write his famous natural history which was published in 77. Covid19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation. Pliny was an energetic man, hugely desirous of literary immortality, who wrote his books in the interstices of a full career as a soldier and an administrator.
Plinys historia naturalis natural history is a vast encyclopaedic work and the only book by him to have survived. The natural history was one of the first ancient european texts to be printed, in venice in 1469. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny. The direct links to the latin text of this section of pliny are possible due to the advice of bill thayer at the university of kansas. Direct observation, informed speculation and common knowledge are combined to present a key snapshot of ancient thought and the romans perspective on the world around them.
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. Jul 12, 2018 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Gallia omnis comata uno nomine appellata in tria populorum genera dividitur, amnibus maxime distincta. 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 wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. Naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history, by h. Concentrating on pliny s accounts of foreign lands and peoples, monsters, and barbarians, trevor murphy demonstrates the political significance of this reference book as a. This edition can be found on the internet archive, with the exception of books 3337, which are available on.
The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder pliny free ebook project gutenberg. Pliny the younger, or gaius plinius caecilius secundus, was the nephew and adopted son of pliny the elder, the author of the famous and importantly influential natural history in thirtyseven. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free. Pliny read and dictated in a sedan chair as he moved about urban areas. The eruption had just destroyed the cities of pompeii and herculaneum.
Natural history, volume ii, books 37 loeb classical library no 352 by pliny abebooks. Pliny the elders natural history, from firstcentury rome, is the most important surviving encyclopedia of the ancient world. Pliny the elder was made admiral of the western roman navy. In this book, beagon redresses the balance and illuminates the natural history as the work of an author with an identifiable mode of thinking and a coherent attitude toward his. Pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. Pliny the elders sister, plinia, married a man named caecilius, from the northern italian town of comum. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Gaius plinius secundus ad 232479, called pliny the elder. 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. Even the errors of these authors are a portion of the history of nature, and plinys. Pliny the elder is also the uncle of pliny the younger, whose letters are definitely worth a read, and outline the tragic and incredible nature of pliny the. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny the elder. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us.
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