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. Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. Pliny the elder wrote many works of history and biography, but he is best known for his book called natural history which gives moderns a good idea about the thinking of the ancients about biology, science, and medicine. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in his 37volume treatise, he can be credited with. Sing it songbird podcast natural living for a happy and healthy family coffee with friends liberando mentes podcast. Falconer, bougainville, and gail, place the time of hanno at about b. 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. The name coracinus has been applied to more than, one fish of a sooty colour. The natural history was one of the first ancient european texts to be printed, in venice in 1469. Pliny, the author of the natural history, is called the elder in order to distinguish him from his.
Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history. Utf8 start of this project gutenberg ebook natural history of pliny, vol 1 produced by turgut dincer, brian wilcox. Even the errors of these authors are a portion of the history of nature, and. The silurus of pliny is perhaps a species of cuviers genus schilbe, although true siluri are found in the nile. 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 natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder pliny free ebook project gutenberg. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by pliny, the elder author. The elder pliny on the human animal mary beagon oxford. 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. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny. He wrote the encyclopedic naturalis historia natural history, which became an editorial model for encyclopedias.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. 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. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny the. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read pliny the elder. 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. American museum of natural history handbook series no. Natural living for a happy and healthy family coffee.
Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. Natural history pliny project gutenberg selfpublishing. The natural history book vii with book viii 4 ebook written by pliny the pliny the elder. As a detailed study of the human animal, described by its author as the raison detre of nature, book seven of the elder plinys natural history is crucial to the understanding of the work as a whole. 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, 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. The description by pliny the elder is a quote from his natural history naturalis historia, book 8, chapter 31. 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. 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. Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. 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. Natural history pliny wikimili, the free encyclopedia wikimili, the free encyclopedia.
Pliny the elder has 277 books on goodreads with 3804 ratings. In ad 77, pliny published his famous 37volume work naturalis historia or natural history. 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. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. Drawn entirely by zelinsky and derived from pliny the elders celebrated natural history, this book tells the tale of lion and stoatthe two greatest artists who ever livedwho compete for immortality.
Jun 27, 2017 the description by pliny the elder is a quote from his natural history naturalis historia, book 8, chapter 31. 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 homepage for plinys natural history the historia naturalis of c. 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. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, vol i. 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. Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. Natural history pliny wikimili, the free encyclopedia. In science it often happens that scientists say, you know thats a really good argument. 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.
Plinys natural history is an extraordinarily important document in the history of western science. 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. 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. Pliny s is an organic work, as shakespeares crowded plays or montaignes essays are organic. Rackham and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history, by h. The empire in the encyclopedia 1st edition by trevor murphy author 2. Book 29, medicinal uses of animal products continued. This barcode number lets you verify that youre getting exactly the right version or edition of a.
A selection, by pliny the elder translated by john f. Click on the l symbols to go to the latin text of each chapter. 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. Pliny the elder s most popular book is natural history. I will amend the description to include this information. 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 project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of. The table below is a summary based on modern names for topics. When pliny the elder perished at stabiae during the eruption of vesuvius in 79 ad, he left behind an enormous compendium of knowledge, his thirtysevenvolume natural history, and a teenaged nephew who revered him as a father.
Publication date 1938 topics natural history publisher. This book is available with additional data at biodiversity heritage library. This volume has margins with some fews cuts, the quality of the images are. A wonderfully rich, witty, insightful, and wideranging portrait of the two plinys and their world.
Grieving his loss, pliny the younger inherited the elders notebooksfilled with pearls of wisdomand his legacy. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder. A major section of the natural history, books xx to xxix, discusses matters related to medicine, especially plants. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny. English translation of pliny the elder, natural history, book 35, 1100, by h. Pliny the elders natural history and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. His sources were personal experience, his own prior works such as the work on germania, and extracts from other works. Pliny the elder, the natural history john bostock, m. The guinness is a compilation of isolated and insipid facts. The natural history of pliny, volume 3 bohns classical library the natural history of pliny, pliny the elder. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. 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. More information about this seller contact this seller 15.
His nephew pliny the younger gives an indication how devoted his uncle was to reading and studying, which was like working to him. From antiquity through the middle ages and into the renaissance, plinys massive compilation of knowledge remained a. Gaius plinius secundus ad 232479, called pliny the elder. Gregorovivs favorite favorite favorite october 29, 2008 subject. The natural history book vii with book viii 4 latin texts by bloomsbury isbn. Pliny the elders most popular book is natural history. English translation of pliny the elder, natural history, book 36, 101204, by d. For the original article on pliny see dsb, see vol. In addition, however, it provides valuable insight into the extraordinary complex of ideas and beliefs current in plinys era, many of which have resonances for other eras and cultures. Philemon hollands english translation of 1605 has influenced literature ever since. 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.
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