American museum of natural history handbook series no. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. In ground hired for his use, and managed by himself. Book vii is of particular interest, as pliny observes at the start.
The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of. Philemon hollands english translation of 1605 has influenced literature ever since. When the eagle was first used as the standard of the roman legions. Natural history was understood by pliny the elder to cover anything that could be found in the world, including living things, geology, astronomy, technology, art and humanity. Natural history is an account that can only be given by a roman in the year ad 77, and because. As a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in ancient rome it is unparalleled. Pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic.
Stoicism, and finally romanocentric triumphalism beagon 21, 26, 50, 116. The first detailed commentary on book 7 annotates the usual historical. The 2nd is on the world, the elements, and the heavenly bodies 50. Plinys 37book naturalis historia is a stupor mundi, an encyclopedia of everything there was to knowwhether it was worth knowing or notin rome of the 1st c ad. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Plinys historia naturalis natural history is a vast encyclopaedic work and the only book by him to have survived.
Let us recall that the subject of books 33 to 37 of the natural history is matter ina. Pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. This extraordinary work was originally composed and. The nature of the animated beings which exist upon it, is hardly in any degree less worthy of our contemplation than its other features. Like any great work in human history from plato to galileo, from dante to stephen hawkings pliny s natural history is, first of all, a work of imagination. The natural history was one of the first ancient european texts to be printed, in venice in 1469. In book 7 he is the source for wondrous races of men. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In this thesis i identifiy pliny the elders naturalis historia as a form of roman. Naturalis historia is an early encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. Pliny himself defines his scope as the natural world, or life. The guinness is a compilation of isolated and insipid facts. Naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. Such then is the present state of the world, and of the countries, nations, more remarkable seas, islands, and cities which it contains.
In the year 79, still admiral of the western fleet, pliny noticed a cloud over the city of pompeii. His greatest and only surviving work, the natural history, has been called one of the most influential books ever written in latin. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. Book vii of the natural history provides a detailed examination of the human animal and is. Find out more about this on this lesson about his life and works. 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. Covid19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation. 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. Pliny the elders natural history and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. The natural history of pliny, volume 6 bohns classical library the natural history of pliny, henry thomas riley. Concentrating on plinys accounts of foreign lands and peoples, monsters, and barbarians, trevor murphy demonstrates the political significance of this reference book as a. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. But over the centuries these mistakes have revealed more about plinys world than the accuracies.
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. The 1st book is the preface of the work, dedicated to titus vespasian c. Natural history is an account that can only be given by a. The eruption had just destroyed the cities of pompeii and herculaneum. 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. Plinys natural history project gutenberg selfpublishing. The natural history, volume 2 by pliny the elder free at. Start your 48hour free trial to unlock this pliny the elder study guide and get. Plinys defense of empire lsu digital commons louisiana state. So far our subject has covered the world and its lands, peoples, seas, notable rivers, islands and. I ran a first proofreading pass immediately after entering each book. 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 homepage for plinys natural history the historia naturalis of c.
While serving in this position he also found time to write his famous natural history which was published in 77. Internet archive bookreader plinys natural history. It was before this that during a quarrel the orator lucius crassus, having been the first. 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.
Since the renaissance, the extracts from the elder pliny that i have chosen to anal. Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. Pliny the younger, latin in full gaius plinius caecilius secundus, born 6162 ce, comum italydied c. The works subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history.
Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. Pliny the elder naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. It included chapters on astronomy, geography, medicine, minerals, human beings, animals, and. A major section of the natural history, books xx to xxix, discusses matters related.
Pliny the elders natural history, from firstcentury rome, is the most important surviving encyclopedia of the ancient world. 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. In thirtyseven books internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history. 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. Natural history pliny 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.
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. 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. Natural history begins with aristotle and other ancient philosophers who analyzed the diversity of the natural world. The table below is a summary based on modern names for topics. Catos work appears to have been a collection of maxims, lessons, andor letters.
Featured texts all books all texts latest this just in smithsonian libraries fedlink us genealogy lincoln collection. Pliny the elder was made admiral of the western roman navy. 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. 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. Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. One of his most important works was natural history, a collection of 37 books about the whole of human knowledge about the natural world. Dec 09, 2015 but over the centuries these mistakes have revealed more about plinys world than the accuracies. Nor can we suppose that scaurus surprised with an elementary lesson in vice a community that was untutored and unable to foresee the consequences of the mischief. The natural history of pliny volume 6 digital collections. 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. Xenocrates obsianum lapidem in india et in samnio italiae et ad oceanum in 198 hispania tradit nasci. After decades of work, pliny finished natural history in ce 77.
Internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history. An eagle which precipitated itself on the funeral pile of a girl. 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. Pliny the elders natural history trevor murphy oxford. Page 431 the name which these stones bear, originates, it is said, in the peculiar tint of their brilliancy, which, after closely approaching the colour of wine, passes off into a violet without being fully pronounced. The treatise consisted of 37 books, with approximately 20,000 facts taken from around 100 authors. The natural history book vii with book viii 4 latin texts by bloomsbury isbn.
He was attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of mount vesuvius. Pliny s is an organic work, as shakespeares crowded plays or montaignes essays are organic. English translation of pliny the elder, natural history, book 36, 1100, by d. In the ninetieth olympiad lived aglaophon, cephisodorus, erillus, and evenor, the father of. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. Despite perennial interest in pliny the elders natural history as a record of the. His nephew pliny the younger gives an indication how devoted his uncle was to reading and studying, which was like working to him the only time he took from his work was for his bath, and by bath i mean his actual immersion, for while. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny. 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, tireless researcher and writer, is author. In his spare time he composed several works unrelated to natural history and which. The natural history there is no book so bad that some good cannot be got out of it, pliny the elder used to say, and he read everything that he could obtain. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. In ad 77, pliny published his famous 37volume work naturalis historia or natural history. The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th books are on geography, in which is contained an account of the situation of the different countries, the inhabitants, the seas, towns, harbours, mountains, rivers, and. Pliny the younger was a lawyer, author, and an eyewitness to one of the worst disasters in human history.