Libros naturalis historiae, novicium camenis quiritium tuorum opus, natos apud me proxima fetura licentiore epistula narrare 1 constitui tibi, iucundissime imperatorsit enim haec tui praefatio, verissima, dum maximi consenescit in patre. 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, natural history loeb classical library. Pliny the elder, naturalis historia, book preface, chapter 1. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder pliny. Naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. The wonderfully imaginative miniatures which accompany the copy of the text in the victoria and albert museum are attributed to giuliano amedei, and although describing early roman practice.
Tupper, dcl brands popular antiquities of england, scotland, and ireland. When this is done, the leaves are pressed close together, and then dried in the sun. Publication date 184749 topics natural history publisher london printed for the club by g. Au wittstein, georg christian, au tippmann collection north carolina state university. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.
This work is licensed under a creative commons attributionsharealike 3. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover all. Naturalis historiae first page of supplement bound with v. 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 natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder pliny free. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue.
Pliny the elder, historia naturalis whalley, joyce irene on. He was also a naval and army commander of the early roman empire and personal friend of the emperor vespasian. The homepage for plinys natural history the historia naturalis of c. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Natural history plinii naturalis historia prefatio plinius secundus vespasiano suo s. Naturalis historia naturgeschichte by pliny the elder. The reading copy of historia naturalis has one illuminated page and thirtyseven illuminated initial letters. 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. Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology.
Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. The historia naturalis is the first encyclopedia, a compilation covering every aspect of the world as known to an intelligent roman of the first century. Publication date 1938 topics natural history publisher london. An xml version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer perseus any modifications you make. Nor is it concerned to cover in depth the various important specialist aspects of the historia naturalis. The elder plinys chapters on the history of art 1982, ares publishers in multiple languages revised reprint i. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning. Pliny the elder is a unique phenomenon in the history of the literary transmission of antique texts. Translate naturalis historia in english online and download now our free translator to use any time at no charge.
Pliny the elder naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. 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. Ad 23 august 25, ad 79, commonly known by his anglicized name, pliny the elder, was a roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher. With an english translation on opposite pages, notes, introduction, and glossary, by rev.
Historia naturalis natural history by pliny the elder. 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. 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. It included chapters on astronomy, geography, medicine, minerals, human beings, animals, and related historical events. Naturalis historia is an early encyclopedia published circa a. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 bohns classical library the natural history of pliny, henry thomas riley. The latin library the classics page the classics page. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free. 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. Naturalis historia naturgeschichte plinius secundus. Page 189 this table being first inclined, the leaves of papyrus are laid upon it lengthwise, as long, indeed, as the papyrus will admit of, the jagged edges being cut off at either end.
Pliny the elder, naturalis historia karl friedrich theodor mayhoff, ed. The 1472 edition of plinys historia naturalis is the second oldest printed book in the university of readings rare book collections, and one of twelve examples of incunabula or early printed books held by the university. Cajus plinius secundus naturgeschichte, volume 18 pliny the younger full view 1854. Naturalis historia printed by taylor and francisverso of t. The natural history by pliny the elder free at loyal books. Pliny himself defines his scope as the natural world, or life. Plinys natural history was the goto encyclopedia for over 1,500 years, from its publication around the year 77 until well into the renaissance. Natural history wikisource, the free online library. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the natural history of pliny. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. Pliny the elder, naturalis historia, liber xxiii, chapter 1. Fox, ma to which is added the anglosaxon version of the metres of boethius, with a free translation by martin f. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in. The works subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history.
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