Museums oldest natural history book now accessible online. I ordered it immediately after finishing the podcast, but i am a nerd, so ymmv. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by pliny, the elder author. In addition to the frequently cited monograph of sarah blake mcham pliny and the artistic culture of the italian renaissance. Download citation pliny the elders natural history. Pliny the elder, audience and politics emma libonati petrie museum of egyptian archaeology, university college london abstract thispaperlooks at anaspect ofthe object habit byconsidering the motivations behind an ancient technical text, pliny the elders natural history. Around the year 78 ad, roman naturalist gaius plinius secundas, or pliny the elder, published his only surviving work, naturalis historia natural history. I was introduced to this book via the in our times bbc podcast.
The natural history which is actually a sort of encyclopedia of roman wisdom and prejudices has probably fallen out of favour because the first two books are surprisingly tedious. This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the pliny the elder article. He mentions it, briefly, in book 21, chapter 50 of his natural history, which is a short section about wild or uncultivated foods. The edition of 1,025 copies was printed in venice by nicolaus jenson, mostly on paper. I will settle the issue of terminology with pliny the elders first century, encyclopedic compendium concerning the nature of things, the natural history. 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. Varro gave a rule, that to prevent baldness and the shedding of hair, the barber should be sent for always after the full moon. A full translation of his natural history can be found here, and the letters of pliny the younger, including his eyewitness description of the eruption of the vesuvius and his summary of his uncles works, here. Pompeii hero pliny the elder may have been found 2,000 years later. Of all the incredible books ive seen at the smithsonian, my favorite is tucked away within the collections of the joseph l. One of the great books ever written, despite one or two inaccuracies this book not only reflects the depth and scope of ancient roman thinking and their understanding of the world they lived in but is useful as a reference book when studying the any aspect of the ancient world of both rome and greece, which covers everything from farming to the arts. Pliny the elder sailed into danger when vesuvius erupted, and never returned, but a body found a century ago covered in jewelry like a cabaret ballerina may really have been his. A selection classics kindle edition by pliny, gaius, healey, john, healey, john.
Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. This is a fascinating book, yet is only a selection and a small one at that of plinys great work. The first translation of pliny the elders natural history into italian was published by the strozzi family of florence in 1476. Myth and mythography in plinys geography, naturalis historia 36. Pliny the elder 427 pliny the elder, natural history, florence, plut.
If only daisy dunns book had been around back when i was an aspiring classicist. The empire in the encyclopedia the most important surviving encyclopaedia from the ancient world, pliny the elders natural history is. First of all, an upright layer is smeared on to the table using the full length of papyrus available after the trimmings have been cut off at both ends. The boys of blurry photos go over his life and accomplishments, including his most famous work, natural history. Ive read pliny the youngers account of elder plinys death at the historic eruption of vesuvius that buried pompeii.
The museums library and archives has digitised its oldest book, historia. Click here to start a new topic please sign and date your posts by typing four tildes new to wikipedia. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of. Buy plinys natural history in thirtyseven books on. If youre even the least bit curious about the natural history, give it a listen. If one attempts to research the historical uses of the elder plant, one will see that most texts point to the historical book natural history by pliny the elder, a roman author and naval commander who lived until 79 a. Roman writer on natural history who died in the eruption of the volcano vesuvius in 79 because, being eager to observe the phenomenon, he landed at stabiae castellamare and was soon stifled by the fumes. Butter, or butyrum in latin and in greek, means quite simply cow cheese. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
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. He is always noble and serious, full of the love of justice and virtue. There were actually two roman writers named pliny the elder and the younger. And i knew plinys natural history is emphatically crucial to art historians, historians of science, and anyone wanting the ancient equivalent of information one might find in todays encyclopedias.
The draus runs through the serretes, the serrapilli2017, the iasi, and the. 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. 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. Cullman 3rd library of natural historya 1491 copy of pliny the elders natural history, or in his native roman tongue, naturalis historia, written between 77 and 79 ad coming to a premature end when, famously. It was kind of like an encyclopedia, meant by its author to address pretty much everything a firstcentury roman might need to know about the natural world, or life. Ancient uses of the elder plant in natural history by. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder pliny. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. What did pliny actually say about lupus salictarius. This is not a forum for general discussion of the articles subject put new text under old text.
In the big book of great beers, you get to the last page, and theres a little plastic mirror on. Naas 2002, carey 2003, beagon 2007, pollard 2009, joneslewis 2012, libonati 2017, and. Plinys natural history has too often been regarded as simply a quarry for quaint storiesa view which has tended to overshadow its overall structure and purpose. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and. Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia.
Apparently pliny the elder isnt good anymore vinepair. The natural history book vii with book viii as an etextbook and get instant access. 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. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by the elder pliny free. But the country people, and, indeed, some whole nations offer milk to the gods. A moderatelyknown figure from roman history, pliny the elder led a fascinating life and often comes up in forteana because of his writings. Letters of pliny by pliny the younger full audio book.
Gaius plinius secundus pliny the elder was born in ad 21. Healey plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. An exploration of the smithsonians special collections. This book is plinys sole surviving work and in it he records the sum total of roman scientific knowledge in the first century ad. As i was reading a paper on the oldest fragment of a cicero manuscript, i came across a rare reference by cicero to a type of high quality papyrus used in book making austin, pg.
Having seen the cloud, pliny the elder decided he wanted to get closer to it to investigate, daisy dunn, author of the pliny biography the shadow of vesuvius, told the new york times. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. Continue reading so what did pliny the elder say about hops. A 1491 edition of pliny the elders naturalis historia housed in our joseph f. The time has come for the roman showman himself, pliny the elder. He served both as a cavalry officer in germania and as procurator and combined with this public service a deep interest in science. 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. Tiberius the emperor observed likewise the change of the moon for cutting the hair both of head and beard.
But im hesitant to use the words monstrous and race in doing so. Pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medici. Buy natural history penguin classics reprint by pliny the elder, john healey, john healey isbn. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ran. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, vol i. Cullman 3 rd library of natural history, however, challenges both of those commands. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, volume 4 of 6, by pliny, the elder this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the united states and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. This book is available with additional data at biodiversity heritage library. These selections from the natural history are fascinating. The encyclopaedist pliny the elder natural history 25. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting. Pliny the elder, latin in full gaius plinius secundus, born ad 23, novum comum, transpadane gaul now in italydied aug.
I ran a first proofreading pass immediately after entering each book, so that the text of all the books is quite good already. My ideal natural history would therefore be for penguin to publish all thirtyseven volumes, yet with copious footnotes so as to learn the accuracy of what pliny says and understand those things that he may have taken for granted. The illustrated herbal is a genre of pharmacological book known in graecoroman antiquity from at least the first century bce. Pliny the elder wrote this book and much, much morethis is merely a selection.
A selection penguin classics john healey, pliny the elder. Knowledge and written transmission in plinys books in medicine 2017. All this is articulated by the artist on the opening page of the first book. Pliny read and dictated in a sedan chair as he moved about urban areas. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such subjects as botany, zoology, and astronomy. Natural history by pliny the elder, 97801404441, available at book. In this thesis i identifiy pliny the elders naturalis historia as a form of roman historiography. After talking about the wild plants eaten in egypt, he then says. Work on pliny the elders natural history has, in recent years, caught fire. He was, after all, author of a 37volume book of natural history. This book is a gem for many reasons, as it is the single largest written text to have survived the roman empire. In this book, beagon redresses the balance and illuminates the natural history as the.
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