Pliny the elder biography facts, childhood, family life. 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. 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. Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Cleopatra, the last of the queens of egypt, was in possession of them both, they having come to her by descent from the.
Pliny the elder, who died during the eruption of vesuvius in 79 a. Pliny the elder was a roman natural philosopher who lived during the 1st century. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free. Plinys natural history, either directly or indirectly through quotes by later authors, greatly influenced the development of the bestiary and other medieval beast literature. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. Sing it songbird podcast natural living for a happy and healthy family coffee with friends liberando mentes podcast. Divers sorts of lightnings, and wondrous accidents by them occasioned. Barclay, 184749, also by philemon holland and wernerian club page images at hathitrust pliny, the elder. Cleopatras pearls dissolved in vinegar the history blog.
Sing it songbird podcast natural living for a happy and healthy family coffee with friends liberando mentes. Probably, the teacher had died, and the pupil felt he owed this book as a homage. Plinys natural history in thirtyseven books london. Theres a famous story relayed by pliny the elder in his natural history that cleopatra drank the largest pearls in the world dissolved in vinegar on a bet with marc antony there were formerly two pearls, the largest that had been ever seen in the whole world. From antiquity through the middle ages and into the renaissance, plinys massive compilation of knowledge remained. A multifaceted personality, he was also an author, naturalist, and a naval and army commander of the early roman empire. 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. Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. The author of the natural history was impressed by the operations, which had been carried out in darkness. In these years, pliny wrote a second book, a life of pomponius secundus. A major section of the natural history, books xx to xxix, discusses matters related to medicine, especially plants that yield useful drugs. Pliny himself defines his scope as the natural world, or life.
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. Pliny the elder, roman savant and author of the celebrated natural history, an encyclopedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the middle ages. The works subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history. Pliny the elder livius articles on ancient history. Pomponius secundus, in two books, a person by whom he had been. Nero claudius drusus, the son of livia, afterwards the wife of au gustus. Pliny the elders natural history quotations the gold. Direct observation, informed speculation and common knowledge are combined to present a key snapshot of ancient thought and the romans perspective on the. Plinius arrangierte darin traditionelles naturwissenschaftliches wissen griechischer autoren. He is best known for his work plinys natural history which was in latin and explored the natural world.
The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder pliny free ebook project gutenberg. 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. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such subjects as botany, zoology, and astronomy. The zoology chapters books 8 to 11 are frequently quoted, though pliny is not always acknowledged as the. The natural history book vii with book viii 4 ebook written by pliny the 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. 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. The homepage for plinys natural history the historia naturalis of c. Domitius, ut erat vehemens natura, praeterea accensus odio, quod ex aemulatione acidissimum 2 est, graviter increpuit tanti censorem habitare, m. Publication date 184749 topics natural history publisher london printed for the club by g.
The natural history, which was dedicated to titus in 77, was, according to the. 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. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. 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. 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. Internet archive bookreader plinys natural history. See all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. Naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. Pliny the elder pliny, the elder the online books page. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder.
Pliny himself died while investigating the volcanic eruption that destroyed pompeii in ad 79, and the natural curiosity that brought about his death is also very much evident in the natural history a book that proved highly influential right up until the renaissance and that his nephew, pliny the younger, described as full of variety as. The roman pliny the elder 2379 ce was a roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early roman empire, and friend of emperor vespasian. Selections from the history of the world, commonly called the natural history of c. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history, by h. Pliny also set out to write a natural history in 37 books. The natural history has been translated into english by h. For the original article on pliny see dsb, see vol. 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. The natural history of pliny, volume 5 bohns classical library the natural history of pliny, pliny the elder. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read pliny the elder. I ran a first proofreading pass immediately after entering each book. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history. Pliny was a compiler, a gatherer and recorder of information.
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