The numbers below refer to the book roman number and paragraph arabic number. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder pliny free ebook project gutenberg. 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. Pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published.
Natural history pliny currently redirects to naturalis historia, the result of a recent page move. The nature of the animated beings which exist upon it, is hardly in any degree less worthy of our contemplation than its other features. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny the elder. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. Concentrating on plinys accounts of foreign lands and peoples, monsters, and barbarians, trevor murphy demonstrates the political significance of this reference book as a. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in his 37volume treatise, he can be credited with. In thirtyseven books internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history.
Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. 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. 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. 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. Firth 1900 a few words and phrases have been modified. Download pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology.
It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to. There are two english translations of pliny online. 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. 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. Pliny the elder, the natural history john bostock, m. American museum of natural history handbook series no. As a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in ancient rome it is unparalleled. Plinys historia naturalis natural history is a vast encyclopaedic work and the only book by him to have survived. As part of a new direction in classical scholarship, trevor murphy reads the work not just for the information it contains, but to understand how and why pliny collects and presents information as he does. The guinness is a compilation of isolated and insipid facts. Publication date 1938 topics natural history publisher. 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.
Pdf the natural history of pliny download ebook for free. Naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. The illustrated herbal is a genre of pharmacological book known in graecoroman antiquity from at least the first century bce. 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. Pliny the elders natural history, from firstcentury rome, is the most important surviving encyclopedia of the ancient world. Start your 48hour free trial to unlock this pliny the elder study guide and get. The table below is a summary based on modern names for topics. This book is available with additional data at biodiversity heritage library. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the natural history of pliny. The encyclopaedist pliny the elder natural history 25. 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.
Buy plinys natural history in thirtyseven books on. Pliny the elders most popular book is 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. Internet archive bookreader plinys natural history. Such then is the present state of the world, and of the countries, nations, more remarkable seas, islands, and cities which it contains.
Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. 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. Questia read the fulltext online edition of natural history of pliny vol. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. This extraordinary work was originally composed and. In ad 77, pliny published his famous 37volume work naturalis historia or natural history. This was an encyclopaedia of 37 books which covered the natural world. Pliny s is an organic work, as shakespeares crowded plays or montaignes essays are organic. Barclay, 184749, also by philemon holland and wernerian club page images at hathitrust pliny, the elder. Among the whole range of animated beings, the human fe 2151. One of the earliest surviving examples of such illustrated. Pliny the elder has 277 books on goodreads with 3818 ratings. 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. Philemon hollands english translation of 1605 has influenced literature ever since.
The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by 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. Jul 12, 2018 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read plinys natural history. Pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. Pliny read and dictated in a sedan chair as he moved about urban areas. 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. Book vii of the natural history provides a detailed examination of the human animal and is. Its author is roman philosopher and scholar gaius plinius secundus, commonly known as pliny the elder ad 2379. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny the. In thirtyseven books by pliny the elder, 1847, printed for. 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. Naturalis historia natural history pliny natural history is the most common title for this work in english.
Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. 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 natural history of pliny, volume 6 bohns classical library the natural history of pliny, henry thomas riley. Internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history. Museums oldest natural history book now accessible online. Selections from the history of the world, commonly called the natural history of c. More information about this seller contact this seller 15. Pliny the elder pliny, the elder the online books page. The most important surviving encyclopedia from the ancient world, pliny the elders natural history is unparalleled as a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in firstcentury rome. The natural history was one of the first ancient european texts to be printed, in venice in 1469. Pliny the elders natural history trevor murphy oxford. 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 encyclopedic scientific work by pliny. 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.