At any rate, the latin text and the holland translation have each been. Ad 23 august 25, ad 79, commonly known by his anglicized name, pliny the elder, was a roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history. Loeb was troubled by the decline in the humanities and believed that there was much value in studying the best works from the past. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search.
Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such. 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. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. Students must remember a seemingly endless array of grammatical rules and vocabulary, and often the material to be translated seems dull and lengthy beyond. The roman naturalist pliny the elders encyclopaedic natural history, composed in 37 books, remains an unrivalled compendium of roman knowledge. Philemon hollands english translation of 1605 has influenced literature ever since. The homepage for plinys natural history the historia naturalis of c. After his fathers death pliny was brought up by his uncle, pliny the elder. Pliny the elders most popular book is natural history.
Natural history pliny project gutenberg selfpublishing. Apr 01, 2014 this comprehensive ebook presents the complete works of pliny the younger, with beautiful illustrations, informative introductions and the usual delphi bonus material. The editortranslator john healy claims to have excluded mostly those. Author of a military treatise as well as works on grammar, rhetoric, biography, and history none extant, he is best known for his encyclopedia of natural history, naturalis historia 77 c.
The two books aim at guiding the students in their analysis and understanding of the original texts by giving them several convenient tools for the translation of. Pliny himself defines his scope as the natural world, or life. Jul 03, 2010 the elder pliny s natural history is one of the greatest books of ancient times, a massive compendium of scientific knowledge, travelers tales, zoological observation and believe it or not. His avid interest in natural phenomena led him to write the natural histories, an encyclopedic work encompassing subjects as diverse as astronomy, geography, biology. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, vol i. Conceived of by james loeb in the early 20th century, the series was designed to make greek and latin classics accessible by the amateur reader. Bostock, who contemplated a translation of the entire work.
Gaius plinius secundus ad 232479, called pliny the elder. He was also a naval and army commander of the early roman empire and personal friend of the emperor vespasian. The only translation of plinys natural history which has hitherto appeared in the english language is that by philemon holland, published in. Pliny the elder has 277 books on goodreads with 3818 ratings. They are set out in the original text order of pliny the elder, and are then sequentially analysed. 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. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Get babylons translation software free download now. For naturalis historia, the natural history by pliny the elder see natural history pliny. We have already stated, that there are certain tribes of the scythians, and, indeed, many. Most gracious highness let this title, a supremely true one, be yours, while that of most eminent grows to old age with your sirei have resolved to recount b to you, in a somewhat presumptuous letter, the offspring of my latest travail, my volumes of natural history a novel task for the native. 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. Care is taken to gather it without the use of iron, the right hand being passed for the purpose through the left sleeve of the tunic, as though the gatherer were in the act of committing a theft. Version 1 beautifully illustrated with images relating to pliny s life and works features the complete extant works of pliny, in both english translation and the original latin.
Pliny s 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 contents of the books are as follows. The natural history there is no book so bad that some good cannot be got out of it, pliny the elder used to say, and he read everything that he could obtain. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
Plinys historia naturalis natural history is a vast encyclopaedic work and the only book by him to have survived. The latin library the classics page the classics page. Complete latin text at lacuscurtius complete latin text with translation tools at perseus digital library naturalis historia. Pliny the elder 2379 ce, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled. Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. 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 natural history has been translated into english by h.
Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Contents of pliny s natural history divided into thirtyseven books preface. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the natural history of pliny. 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.
Even by the light of reason alone and particularly if the ancient records of history are investigated, if the unwavering popular conscience is interrogated and the manners and institutions of all races examined, it is sufficiently obvious that there is a certain sacredness and religious character attaching even to the purely. The loeb classical library edition of natural history is in ten volumes. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Gaius plinius caecilius secundus, known as pliny the younger, was the son of a landowner from comum in northern italy. Philemon hollands english translation of 1601 has influenced literature ever since. 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. 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 encyclopedic work. With iron tools, with wood, fire, stone, burthens of corn, she is tormented. Naturalis historia translation in latinenglish dictionary.
Whether this is a translation to mpm of stadia measures is questionable, but the city of meroe, the ancient capital of the ethiopian kings is situated only 45km or 30 mpm northeast of shendi and the junction of the blue nile and atbara river. Delphis ancient classics series provides ereaders with the wisdom of the classical world, with both english translations and the original latin texts. The first and thirtythird books of pliny were translated by dr. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history attalus. Pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. Synopsis each of the 37 38 books comprising the natural history 1 have been studied and the more important geographical facts extracted.
Natural history penguin classics by pliny the elder august 29, 1991 paperback. Gaius plinius caecilius secundus, usually known as pliny the younger, was born at como in 62 a. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free. His avid interest in natural phenomena led him to write the natural histories, an encyclopedic work encompassing subjects as diverse as astronomy, geography, biology, zoology, botany, medicine, and gemology. The loeb classical library is an essential set for anyone studying the classics.
His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. Pliny the elder, who died during the eruption of vesuvius in 79 a. Use the dictionary lookup tool to examine difficult english words used by the translator or challenging latin words used by pliny the elder. 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. Meaningful learning 2017 ipa journal performance engineering of software systems alfs motivation and. 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 hero embarks this post belongs to a serialized translation and commentary of pliny the youngers letters 6.
Naturalis historia translation latinenglish dictionary. His letters are arranged in ten books, of which the tenth consists entirely of letters to and from the emperor trajan. Preface pliny natural history preface plinius secundus to his dear vespasian a greeting. His nephew pliny the younger gives an indication how devoted his uncle was to reading and studying, which was like working to him the only time he took from his work was for his bath, and by bath i mean his actual immersion, for while. Philemon holland 1552 9 february 1637 was an english schoolmaster, physician and translator. Naturalis historia is a book about the whole of the natural world in latin by pliny the elder, a roman author and naval commander who died in 79 ad. 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. Delphi complete works of pliny the younger illustrated by. 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.
He was only eight years old when his father caecilius died, and he was adopted by his uncle, the elder pliny, author of the natural history. 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. Internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history. He wrote the encyclopedic naturalis historia natural history, which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. Pliny the younger, latin in full gaius plinius caecilius secundus, born 6162 ce, comum italydied c. The works subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history. Eichholz in their loeb edition, with the latin text on facing pages.
American museum of natural history handbook series no. The natural history was one of the first ancient european texts to be printed, in venice in 1469. With an english translation classic reprint by pliny the elder. Of all published articles, the following were the most read within the past 12 months. Firth 1900 a few words and phrases have been modified. Letters of pliny, by gaius plinius caecilius secundus. The table below is a summary based on modern names for topics. 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.
Even the errors of these authors are a portion of the history of nature, and plinys. 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. He is known for the first english translations of several works by livy, pliny the elder, and plutarch, and also for translating william camdens britannia into english. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to.
52 1046 794 124 717 1267 1378 679 1552 1475 412 53 1506 1290 180 873 1050 171 905 474 644 742 1537 979 212 1089 870 185 1328 1516 623 987 1593 196 1434 426 701 425 423 1106 1320 52 1422 172