Pliny the elders natural history, from firstcentury rome, is the most important surviving encyclopedia of the ancient world. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history. 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. In ad 77, pliny published his famous 37volume work naturalis historia or natural history. He was a roman author and natural philosopher who wrote naturalis historia or 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. In thirtyseven books internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history. Plinys historia naturalis natural history is a vast encyclopaedic work and the only book by him to have survived. Pliny s natural history, either directly or indirectly through quotes by later authors, greatly influenced the development of the bestiary and other medieval beast literature.
Natural history page from an italian edition of natural history by pliny the elder, c. Pliny the elder, who died during the eruption of vesuvius in 79 a. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, vol i. The zoology chapters books 8 to 11 are frequently quoted, though pliny is not always acknowledged as the. Book vii of the natural history provides a detailed examination of the human animal and is. The natural history book vii with book viii 4 ebook written by pliny the pliny the elder. The new title is longer, less easy for editors to guess, does not name the author, and has no precedent in common usage, so it might be thought not much of an improvement. The table below is a summary based on modern names for topics. As a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in ancient rome it is unparalleled.
Pliny the elder 23 ad79 ad, ancient roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of naturalis historia pliny s natural history. 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. Buy natural history penguin classics reprint by pliny the elder, john healey isbn. Though he wrote many books on history and biography, the elder pliny is most noted for his work natural history which is an encyclopedic compendium of the knowledge of his day. I ran a first proofreading pass immediately after entering each book, so that the text of all the books is quite good already.
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. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder pliny free ebook project gutenberg. Details plinys natural history in thirtyseven books biodiversity.
Pliny the elders most popular book is natural history. 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 nineteenth century. 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. Pliny the younger died 1, ancient roman statesman, orator, writer, and pliny the elders nephew and adopted son. Internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history. Naturalis historia is an early encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus.
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. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. The extreme promontory of africa, which projects into the ocean, is called ampelusia 4 by the greeks. Naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. 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. 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. This extraordinary work was originally composed and. Pliny the elder 2379 ce, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled. The natural history has been translated into english by h.
Buy plinys natural history in thirtyseven books on. Pliny the elder has 277 books on goodreads with 3818 ratings. This book is available with additional data at biodiversity heritage library. Museums oldest natural history book now accessible online. This was an encyclopaedia of 37 books which covered the natural world. Its author is roman philosopher and scholar gaius plinius secundus, commonly known as pliny the elder ad 2379. Plinius secundus nouocomensis equestribus militiis industrie functus by. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read pliny the elder.
American museum of natural history handbook series no. This is in the form of a covering letter from pliny, to accompany the gift of his treatise on natural history to his friend vespasian caesar i. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by pliny, the elder author. 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. The only translation of pliny s 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. Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. It is the only work by pliny to have survived, and the last that he published, lacking a final revision at his sudden and unexpected death in the ad 79 eruption of vesuvius. In the first two books, the text of hardouin, as given in lemaires edition paris.
Pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Publication date 1938 topics natural history publisher. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read plinys natural history. Utf8 start of this project gutenberg ebook natural history of pliny, vol 1 produced by turgut dincer, brian wilcox. Pliny scorns the more scientific grrek medicine, because many doctors would be quacks, and. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of t. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the natural history of pliny. It was supposed to be peculiarly nutritive and restorative, and it has been prescribed for the same purpose by modern physicians. Pliny also set out to write a natural history in 37 books. Pliny the elder pliny, the elder the online books page. 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 natural history became a model for later encyclopedias and scholarly works as a result of its breadth of subject matter, its referencing. The natural history of pliny, volume 6 bohns classical library the natural history of pliny, henry thomas riley. 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 appendix note puts the whole thing into perspective. Firth 1900 a few words and phrases have been modified. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such. 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 numbers below refer to the book roman number and paragraph arabic number. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. Contents of pliny s natural history divided into thirtyseven books preface. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in his 37volume treatise, he can be credited with. Pliny the elders natural history trevor murphy oxford. 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. 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.
Pliny the elder pliny, the elder a wikipedia article about this author is available pliny, the elder. Pliny the elders natural history quotations the gold scales. 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. 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. Jul 12, 2018 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. The roman pliny the elder 2379 ce was a roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early roman empire, and friend of emperor vespasian. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder. Gaius plinius secundus ad 232479, called pliny the elder. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny the. The natural history was one of the first ancient european texts to be printed, in venice in 1469. Pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. Pliny the elder, the natural history john bostock, m. 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. Plinys natural history project gutenberg selfpublishing.
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. An interesting innovation was his listing of the sources of his information. Natural history pliny project gutenberg selfpublishing. Pliny was a compiler, a gatherer and recorder of information. Pliny chase 18201886, american scientist, mathematician, and educator.