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. 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. The table below is a summary based on modern names for topics. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for. The loeb classical library edition of natural history is in ten volumes. Pliny the elder natural history, book xviii, chapter 6. Book vii of the natural history provides a detailed examination of the human animal and is.
The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by pliny, the elder author. 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 natural history was one of the first ancient european texts to be printed, in venice in 1469. Book xxvi book xxvii additional notes index of plants list of diseases and affections index of names vol 8 introduction book xxviii book xxix book xxx book xxxi book xxxii additional notes popular medicine in ancient italy list of diseases and affections mentioned by pliny index. I should have finished describing the character remedies from animals. Volume i of the natural history of gaius plinius secundus. This extraordinary work was originally composed and. Jones and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in his 37volume treatise, he can be credited with. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny the. Plinys historia naturalis natural history is a vast encyclopaedic work and the only book by him to have survived. 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 elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic.
Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. 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. In ad 77, pliny published his famous 37volume work naturalis historia or natural history. Notes on antique folklore on the basis of plinys natural history l. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of. Publication date 1938 topics natural history publisher. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read.
It is an encyclopedic work, designed to illustrate a philosophical belief in a benign providence, and to assimilate greek. Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. Lust is an enemy to the purse, a foe to the person, a canker to the mind, a corrosive to the conscience, a weakness of the wit, a besotter of the senses, and finally, a mortal bane to all the body. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Pliny s natural history the naturalis historia is one of the largest works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day. 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. Naturalis historia by pliny the elder, was dedicated to the emperor titus in 77 ce, and published posthumously, following plinys death while observing the eruption of vesuvius in 79 ce. This text is part of the internet ancient history sourcebook. 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, and medicine among other.
Pliny the elder 2379 ce produced in his natural history a vast compendium of roman knowledge. 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. Utf8 start of this project gutenberg ebook natural history of pliny, vol 1 produced by turgut dincer, brian wilcox. 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. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the us or from the uk, depending on stock availability. Read more about the sites features pliny the elder 2379 ce, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled. Selection of the vestal virgins the first vestal was taken from her parents as though she had been captured in war, and led by the hand. 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. 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. Pliny the elder, who died during the eruption of vesuvius in 79 a.
Pliny s natural history vol 2 download pliny s natural history vol 2 ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format. The natural history of pliny, volume 5 bohns classical library the natural history of pliny, pliny the elder. Natural living for a happy and healthy family coffee. Lacuscurtius pliny the elders natural history book 28. The works subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history.
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. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is. The only translation of plinys natural history which has hitherto appeared in the. 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.
It is an encyclopedic work, designed to illustrate a philosophical belief in a benign providence, and to assimilate greek knowledge for the roman world. 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 natural history of pliny, volume 6 bohns classical library the natural history of pliny, henry thomas riley. 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. Sing it songbird podcast natural living for a happy and healthy family coffee with friends liberando mentes podcast. We should have now concluded our description of the. The sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copypermitted texts related to medieval and byzantine history. Buy pliny natural history in ten volumes volume viii libri xxviii xxxii loeb classical library by pliny, in good condition. Notes on antique folklore on the basis of plinys natural. 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. Such then is the present state of the world, and of the countries, nations, more remarkable seas, islands, and cities which it contains. Pliny natural history in ten volumes volume viii libri xxviii.
Naturalis historia by pliny the elder, was dedicated to the emperor titus in 77 ce, and published posthumously, following pliny s death while observing the eruption of vesuvius in 79 ce. Selection of the vestal virgins the first vestal was taken from her parents as though she had been captured in. Pliny himself defines his scope as the natural world, or life. Download pdf pliny s natural history vol 2 free online. Philemon hollands english translation of 1605 has influenced literature ever since. 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. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, vol i. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. Aug 10, 2018 pliny the elder, natural history, book xxviii. Hese books, containing the history of nature, which a few days since i brought. 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. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle.
This book is available with additional data at biodiversity. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free. 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. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Contents of plinys natural history divided into thirtyseven books preface. Pliny, the author of the natural history, is called the elder in order to distinguish him from his. Natural history, volume iv, books 1216 loeb classical library no. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. 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. 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. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. I ran a first proofreading pass immediately after entering each book, so that the text of all the books is quite good already. Natural history pliny project gutenberg selfpublishing.
Topics included are the mathematics and metrology of the universe. Naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. 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. Feb 12, 2019 contents of pliny s natural history divided into thirtyseven books preface. Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. The nature of the animated beings which exist upon it, is hardly in any degree less worthy of our contemplation than its other features. Naturalis historia naturalis historia, 1669 edition, title page. Pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Pliny natural history in ten volumes volume viii libri. Questia read the fulltext online edition of natural history of pliny vol. It claims to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to pliny. Pliny the elder quotes top 116 from roman naturalist. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel.
However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Pliny s natural history vol 2 download pliny s natural history. 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, and medicine. Pomponius secundus, in two books, a person by whom. Plinys natural history was the goto encyclopedia for over 1,500 years, from its publication around the year 77 until well into the renaissance. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny. Direct observation, informed speculation and common knowledge are combined to present a key snapshot of ancient thought and the romans perspective on the. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Attributed by pliny the younger to his uncle during the eruption of mount vesuvius in which the elder died. The complete latin text of book xxviii of the historia naturalis of c. Click download or read online button to pliny s natural history vol 2 book pdf for free now.
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