pliny the elder plinius (31 Ergebnisse)

Paperback. Zustand: Very Good. Reprint. It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.

Paperback. Zustand: Fair. Reprint. The item might be beaten up but readable. May contain markings or highlighting, as well as stains, bent corners, or any other major defect, but the text is not obscured in any way.

Zustand: Good. Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc.

PAP. Zustand: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

PAP. Zustand: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

Zustand: New. In English.

Frankfurt am Main; J. D. Sauerländer's Verlag, 1976. 21x15 cm. 354-365 pp. Original printed wrappers, stapled. Fine.

Hardcover. Zustand: Very Good+. Zustand des Schutzumschlags: No Dust Jacket. Scholar's bookplate to inner cover (G. P. Goold). Foxing to textblock.; Xiv, 592 pp; Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum Et Romanorum Teubneriana TEUBNER; 2; 592 pages.

Translated with an introduction and notes by John F. Healy. Penguin classics 1991. xliv,400 pages. Paperback. Fine.[#219233].

Hardcover. Zustand: Very Good. Zustand des Schutzumschlags: No Dust Jacket. Scholar's bookplate to inner cover (G. P. Goold). Light foxing to textblock. Minor bumping to corners.; Xiv, 496 pp; Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum Et Romanorum Teubneriana TEUBNER; 3; 496 pages.

10 vols., 12mo., pp.xiv, 378, 8; ix, [i], 662, 8; ix, [i], 616, 8; vii, [i], 556, 8; vii, [i], 544, 8; xxv, [i], 532, [ii], 8; xiv, 558, [ii], 8; vii, [i], 596, [ii], 8; vii, [i], 422, 8; xviii, 344, 8. 8-page catalogue at rear of each vol., most with some ms notes to rear endpapers. Red cloth, gilt titles to spines. Vols I-III and VII spines sunned, some endcaps a little rubbed, varying amounts of toning to endpapers, vol. VII a little cocked, very good overall. The 37 books of Pliny's Natural History in a set of ten volumes from the Loeb Classical Library, dated as follows (volumes I-V being reprints): 1958; 1947; 1956; 1952; 1961; 1951; 1956; 1963; 1952; 1962.).

Hardcover. Zustand: Very Good. Zustand des Schutzumschlags: No Dust Jacket. Former owner's bookplates to inner covers (William Mode Spackman) with scholar's name written in ink below (W. P. Wallace). Spines are lightly browned. Light rubbing. Minor shelfwear. V4 & 6: front inner hinges starting to crack but holding.; V. 2: (1875) xxxviii, 424 pp; V. 3: (1892) xiv, 496 pp; V. 4: (1897) X, 500 pp; V. 5: (1897) X, 512 pp & V. 6: (1898) iv, 462 pp.; Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum Et Romanorum Teubneriana TEUBNER; 2-6.

First edition in English, first issue (with the Islip imprint); 2 vols, folio (30.5 x 20.7 cm); 2 title pages each with woodcut allegorical device, woodcut head- and tailpieces, decorative initials, last leaf with errata on recto and colophon on verso, one or two instances of early marginalia; lacking first blank leaf in each volume, scattered light foxing and staining, a few marginal open and closed tears, scattered small rust holes costing a few letters, faint dampstaining to a few gatherings; late 18th-century half calf over marbled paper-covered boards, edges speckled red, sometime rebacked with original spines laid down, gilt tooling to spines, red morocco title labels to spines lettered in gilt; a handsome copy. 'Over and over again it will be found that the source of some ancient piece of wisdom is Pliny.' (PMM 5) A handsome first edition, first issue of Philemon Holland's renowned English translation of Pliny's Natural History. The most popular of Holland's translations, it had never before been printed in English, and would not be attempted again for another 250 years. One of the greatest translators of the Elizabethan age, Holland's Pliny was an important source for Shakespeare. 'In Othello's allusion to the Pontic Sea, Shakespeare was clearly drawing upon Pliny's Historie as translated by Holland⦠Similarly Pliny has also been cited as a source for Othello's reference to the "medicinal gum" of "the Arabian trees"' (Payne, Search for Meaning, 63), and many trace Caliban in The Tempest to Holland's Pliny. 'The importance of Pliny lay not so much that he was an inexhaustible source for monsters, eclipses, and the stranger habits of all created things, but that in the pages of Philemon Holland's translation Shakespeare found that emphasis on Nature which he employed and re-interpreted in the tragedy' (Evans, The Language of Shakespeare's Plays). STC 20029.5; Pforzheimer 496; ESTC S115918; Brueggemann, 670; Lowndes, 1885; cf. PMM 5.

Heyden's German translation of selections from Pliny's "Natural History"; focused on anthropology and zoology. The book contains many large Renaissance woodcuts by outstanding artists, e.g. Jost Amman (1539-1591) and Virgil Solis (1514-1562); the first series depicts soldiers, artists, physicians, chemists, scientists and musicians, another series depicts various mammals, birds and fish. Fraktur typesetting; pages are decorated with headpieces, tailpieces and initials. An incomplete copy: the pages 221-226, 391-392, 553-627 and the index (10 leaves) are missing. /// Leather binding with blind embossing (fixed with a different backstrip); hardback, [16]+[544] pp., 8° (17 x 23 cm), cover worn, boards deformed, leather has tiny bookworm traces, backstrip discoloured, with chips, tears and bookworm traces, edges yellowed, top edge darkened, endpapers darkened and worn, with tears, tiny ink stains and (very old) marginalia, back free endpaper has ownership stamp, title leaf worn and darkened, fixed and backed with several pieces of paper, some pages dog-eared, some pages have pale water stains (or small ink stains), some pages have tiny chips, tears or/and bookworm traces, several pages darkened, several pages have very old pen marginalia, condition: fair Book Language/s: German.

Hardcover. Zustand: Good. No Jacket. 3 vols. Tomus primus; (32pp.), 1 folded map., 8 plates, 790pp., / Tomus Secundus; (2)pp., 3 plates., 796pp., 797-835pp., (addenda; 2pp.) / Tomi II. pars altera; 836-1289pp., (1pp.). (Title of "Tomi II. pars altera": Historiae Naturalis C. Plinii Secundi indices locupletissimi tres. Primus geographicus provinciarum, civitatum, montium, fluminum, &c. Secundus exhibet nomina propria numinum, virorum ac feminarum, &c. Tertius idemque copiosissimus verborum ac sententiarum est.) Full vellum, brown title labels to spine with gilt titles. Blind motif on front and rear boards of each vol. Ex-libris. (Augustus Arthur Vansittart) on front e.p.of each vol. Each vol.: Boards rubbed and somewhat curved. Edges of spine somewhat rubbed and title labels sl.rubbed and chipped. Edges foxing. Some pages light spotted. Vol.1: Boards stained. Page number "Ppij" misprinted as "Ooij." Pencil notation to p.388. p.725 and pp.730-731 dark brown spotted. Vol.2: Boards somewhat stained. e.ps.sl.foxing. Vol.3: Boards somewhat stained. Title label partly missing. e.ps.sl.foxing. 45x29cm. [aj1425-102538].

hard cover. Zustand: Fair. no jacket. 3 vols. Tomus primus; (32pp.), 1 folded map., 790pp., 8 plates. / Tomus Secundus; 796pp., 3 plates., 797-835pp., (addenda; 2pp.) / Tomi II. pars altera ; 836-1289pp., (1pp.). Full calf. Raised bands with title label, gilt title and motif to spine. Red colored edges. Boards and spine somewhat rubbed, light stained and chipped. Joint of spine and boards started and partly torn. Top edge darkened. Tomus Primus; Boards damaged and the surface peeled. Joint of spine and boards almost detached. Lower part of title page torn. / Tomus Secundus; Joint of spine and front board almost detached, and joint of rear board partly torn. Bottom edge of spine damaged. From title page to p.280 small wormed. Ink notation to margin of p.1. / Tomi II. pars altera; Joint of spine and front board started and partly torn. Ink notation to margin of title page. pp.873-4 page number misprinted. 40x25.5cm. [aj1114-102398].

Hardcover. Zustand: Good. No Jacket. 3 vols. Tomus primus; (28pp.), 1 folded map., 788pp., 11 plates. / Tomus Secundus; 835pp. / Tomi II. pars altera; 836-1279pp., (1pp.). Full calf. Raised bands with title label, gilt title and motif to spine. Red colored edges. New e.ps. Ex-libris.on front e.p. (Fir John E Swinburne Bar, Capheaton). Boards and spine rubbed and chipped. Corners of bords chipped and surface of spine partly peeled. Joint of spine and boards started and partly torn. Edges spotted. Small ink notation to margin of title page. Some pages of each vol.light stained and foxing. Tomus Primus; A label of spine peeled and chipped. Edges spotted. Pencil notations to pp.69-71 and 73. Margin of p.151 torn. / Tomus Secundus; Pages light damp stained. / Tomi II. pars altera; Small part of spine calf missing. Page number of p.891 misprinted as p.198. Lower corner of pp.973 and 1237 folded. 38.8x25.5cm. [aj1113-102397].

2 parts in one volume. Pliny's renowned Natural History in its second publication in English (repeating, with corrections, the 1601 first publication), translated by Philemon Holland, the greatest translator of the Elizabethan age. The "Naturalis Historia" 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 the author. Pliny claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work. It comprised 37 books in 10 volumes and covered over 20,000 facts on topics including the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy , geology and mineralogy as well as the exploitation of those resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and understanding of natural phenomena at the time. Some technical advances he discusses are the only sources for those inventions, such as hushing in mining technology or the use of water mills for crushing or grinding corn. Much of what he wrote about has been confirmed by archaeology. ''We know from Pliny that there were important pearl fisheries in the Gulf [.] Pliny identifies Tylos (Bahrain) as a place famous for its pearls [. He] attests that pearls were the most highly rated valuable in Roman society, and that those from the Gulf were specially praised [.] The pearl related finds at the site of El-Dur indicate the site was integrated into the maritime trade routes linking the Roman Empire, the Persian Empire, India and South Arabia'' (Carter). Book 6 holds a chapter that gives the first detailed account of the regions around the Gulf, including what are now Qatar, the Emirates and Oman. Binding rubbed; front hinge splitting. Includes the final printed leaf in vol. 2, containing the publisher's advertisement to the reader that all errors have been corrected in the present edition and the errata leaf (included in the same position in 1601) has become unnecessary rather than having been mistakenly omitted. Some slight browning and brownstaining, but an excellent copy removed in 1973 from the Royal Meteorological Society (Symons Bequest, 1900) with their bookplate on the front pastedown.l STC 20030. Cf. Pforzheimer 496 (1601 ed.). Contemporary calf, spine in six compartments, tooled and lettered in gilt. Elaborate woodcut device on title-page; woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. Pages: (58), 614, (42) pp. (12), 632, (86) pp.

First edition thus. 3 vols., 12mo, pp. [xxiv], 654, [xviii]; 631, [xvii]; 582, [xviii]. Engraved titlepage, small woodcut portrait of Pliny. With 'variae lectiones' and indexes at end of each vol. Slight toning, occasional minor spots, titles dusty, 1: one lower outer blank corner minimally torn, 2: small loss to lower blank margin of one leaf. Full blue morocco c.1800, signed by C. Hering (binder's ticket), blind-tooled, straight-grained calf doublures with gilt edges, raised bands, spines gilt-lettered, a.e.g. (boards and joints rubbed, free endpapers soiled). Later annotation to original rear endpaper. The first Elzevier edition of Pliny's 'Natural History', which became extremely popular with later collectors. De Laet was a Leiden historian and editor who wrote or produced a number of texts for the Elzevir press. In the dedication, to the lawyer and French royal counsellor Jerome Bignon (1589-1656), he states that he drew on the edition of Claude Saumaise. Willems 428; Dibdin (3rd edn.) II, 323.

Hardcover. Zustand: Very Good. No Jacket. 8vo (super). Two volumes in one. Place of publication stamped out, with "Geneue" stamped below printer. On second title page, no placeof publication, but "Geneue" stamped in place. Bound in full vellum with red leather spine label, slightly raised bands. Text in French. Vol. I: [56] 533 p.p., plus table [219 p.p., unpaginated]; Vol. II: [22] 624 p.p. plus table [142 p.p. unpaginated]. Early doodles to front and rear boards. Vellum chipped to bottom corners with bruising to corners and spine ends. Doodles also to f.f.e. and fly leaves, with early ownership signature on title page of Vol. I. Light sporadic stains and smudges to pages. Some pages trimmed, with sporadic tears to edges and margins throughout. Noticeably on p. 103 (partially affecting text), and bottom corner of p. 441 in Vol. I, and in Vol. II small tear to p. 83 (partially affecting text), head of 167 and p. 361. Otherwise in very good condition. These two books on Pliny's Natural History encompasses a wide variety of subjects including physical geography, place names throughout Europe and the world, natural history of flowers, herbs, the medicinal properties of animals, as well as a chapter on the origin of the magical arts. Antoine Pinet (1510-1584) was a renaissance writer who translated many works from Latin into French.

Folio (235 x 320 mm). 2 vols. in one. (58), 614, (42) pp. (12), 632, (86) pp. Elaborate woodcut device on title-page; woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. Contemporary calf, spine in six compartments, tooled and lettered in gilt. Pliny's renowned Natural History in its second publication in English (repeating, with corrections, the 1601 first publication), translated by Philemon Holland, the greatest translator of the Elizabethan age. The "Naturalis Historia" 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 the author. Pliny claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work. It comprised 37 books in 10 volumes and covered over 20.000 facts on topics including the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy, geology and mineralogy as well as the exploitation of those resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and understanding of natural phenomena at the time. Some technical advances he discusses are the only sources for those inventions, such as hushing in mining technology or the use of water mills for crushing or grinding corn. Much of what he wrote about has been confirmed by archaeology. "We know from Pliny that there were important pearl fisheries in the Gulf [.] Pliny identifies Tylos (Bahrain) as a place famous for its pearls [. He] attests that pearls were the most highly rated valuable in Roman society, and that those from the Gulf were specially praised [.] The pearl related finds at the site of El-Dur indicate the site was integrated into the maritime trade routes linking the Roman Empire, the Persian Empire, India and South Arabia" (Carter). Book 6 holds a chapter that gives the first detailed account of the regions around the Gulf, including what are now Qatar, the Emirates and Oman. - Binding rubbed; front hinge splitting. Includes the final printed leaf in vol. 2, containing the publisher's advertisement to the reader that all errors have been corrected in the present edition and the errata leaf (included in the same position in 1601) has become unnecessary rather than having been mistakenly omitted. Some slight browning and brownstaining, but an excellent copy removed in 1973 from the Royal Meteorological Society (Symons Bequest, 1900) with their bookplate on the front pastedown. - STC 20030. Cf. Pforzheimer 496 (1601 ed.).

Folio (32 x 20 cm). 2 vols. in one. (58), 614, (42) pp. (12), 632, (86) pp. Elaborate woodcut device on title-page; woodcut initials, head and tailpieces. 19th century half morocco & marbled boards, spine tooled in blind, lettered in gilt, raised bands. Pliny the Elder's renowned Natural History in its first publication in English, translated by Philemon Holland, the greatest translator of the Elizabethan age. The "Naturalis Historia" 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 claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work. It comprised 37 books in 10 volumes and covered over 20.000 facts on topics including the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy, geology and mineralogy as well as the exploitation of those resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and understanding of natural phenomena at the time. Some technical advances he discusses are the only sources for those inventions, such as hushing in mining technology or the use of water mills for crushing or grinding corn. Much of what he wrote about has been confirmed by archaeology. "We know from Pliny that there were important pearl fisheries in the Gulf [.] Pliny identifies Tylos (Bahrain) as a place famous for its pearls [. He] attests that pearls were the most highly rated valuable in Roman society, and that those from the Gulf were specially praised [.] The pearl related finds at the site of El-Dur indicate the site was integrated into the maritime trade routes linking the Roman Empire, the Persian Empire, India and South Arabia" (Carter). Book 6 holds a chapter that gives the first detailed account of the regions around the Gulf, including what are now Qatar, the Emirates and Oman. - Includes the final printed leaf in vol. 2, containing the errata and printer's colophon. In this copy, the title-page was evidently cut horizontally, above the device, then pieced back together, backed with early laid paper, with the lower half slightly darkened. - STC 20029. Pforzheimer 496.

Folio. 268 ff. Contemporary vellum with ms. title to spine. Fine incunabular edition of Pliny's famous encylopedic work, covering the entire field of ancient knowledge. With his "Natural History", Pliny gives a mathematical and physical description of the world, discusses geography, ethnography, anthropology, human physiology, zoology, botany, mineralogy, sculpture and painting. As "a purveyor of information both scientific and nonscientific, Pliny holds a place of exceptional importance in the tradition and diffusion of culture" (DSB). Through the present work Pliny "gives us by far the most detailed account of the coast of the United Arab Emirates that has come down to us. Chapter 32 of Book 6 (§ 149-152), beginning near the Qatar peninsula, proceeds to describe the Emirates islands, tribes, and coast right up to the Musandam peninsula, before continuing on south along the coast of Oman. As such, it is a mine of invaluable information on the UAE in the late pre-Islamic era" (UAE History, online). Pliny "completed his 'Natural History' in 77 AD and, to judge from his account of the peoples and places of south-eastern Arabia [.], the area of the UAE was full of settlements, tribes, and physical features, the names of which he recorded for posterity" (Ghareeb/Al Abed 54). - "This appears to be the first edition of Barbarus' recension, the note of a 1496 edition by the same printer being probably due to a confusion (Hain 13099)" (BMC). Dated 1497 in the colophon, but the dedication is dated the Ides of February in the twelfth year of the Doge Augustinus Barbadicus (30 Aug. 1497 to 29 Aug. 1498). - Numerous contemporary marginalia. Slight worming to gutter and some waterstaining near end; spine restored. Late 19th-c. bookplate of Dr. J. Klauber on front pastedown. - HC 13101*. Goff P-799. GW M34321. Klebs 786.14. Proctor 4893A. BMC V 377. ISTC ip00799000.

Kölner Med. Beitr., 67. - Hrsg. v. Marielene Putscher. - Köln 1994, 8°, (8), 363, (5) pp., orig. kartonierter Einband. Erstdruck! Mit einem Aufsatz von Vivian Nutton "Wissen, Erfahrung, Magie" und einer Einleitung von P. Schulz und M. Putscher.

Hardcover. Zustand: Very Good. 18 May 1499. Chancery folio (302 x 197 mm). 268 unnumbered leaves. 57 lines plus headline, initial spaces, most with printed guides. Types 2:83R, 3:180G. Signatures: (a-e)8 f6 (g-z)8 &8 (A-I)8 K6. Colophon on K6r reads "C. Plynii Secundi de naturali historia libri .xxxvii. Ex castigationes Hermolai Barbari diligentissime Recogniti. Impressi Venetiis per Ioannem Aluisium de Varisio Mediolanensem anno a Natali Cristiano M.CCCCLXXXXIX. die .xviii. Maii." Text upto leaf n5 with large initials painted in red. Bound in 18th century Italian plain vellum, spine reinforced with broad vellum band in early times (vellum soiled and stained, corners worn and bumped), sprinkled edges, original endpapers. Text very little browned (just a few pages stronger), pale waterstaining to outer margins of gathering a and stronger at lower outer corner of final 4 gatherings, few marginal wormholes in first 3 gatherings, title dust-soiled, first gathering working loose, final leaf detached, clean short tear in leaf h4 repaired without loss, a few painted initials with offsetting to opposite page, scattered manuscript annotations of the 16th century in red and black ink (mostly cropped). Provenance: Bibliothèque de l'école Saint-Ange, Saint-Ouen (ink stamps to title and elswhere in text); French collector Nicolas Jouravleff. Very good copy in contemporary binding. ---- LAST INCUNABULUM EDITION of Pliny's Natural History, a re-issue of Benalius' 1497/8 edition, with the text corrected by Hermolaus Barbarus and revised by Johann Baptist Palmarius. It is one of only four books by the Venetian press of Joannes Alvisius (BMC lists a total of 7 books to which this printer contributed, one published in 1501). In his great encyclopaedia, the Historia naturalis, being the first comprehensive examination of the natural sciences and the arts, Pliny set forth by his own count 20,000 facts compiled from 2,000 different works, all of which he scrupulously cited in his remarkably thorough indices. The 36 books of this vast compilation, the only extant work of more than 100 said to have been composed by Pliny, cover cosmology, mathematics, geography, medicine, zoology, agriculture, botany, history, philosophy, anthropology, mineralogy, and the arts and literature. When Pliny died at the age of 56 while observing the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, the work was still unfinished. The importance of the Historia naturalis for the study of ancient art has somewhat been overshadowed by its renown as the first encyclopaedia of natural history. In fact, the Historia remains a principal source of information on the development of sculpture and painting and the techniques of metalworking and silversmithing in antiquity, topics covered in the last four books. Together with Vitruvius' De architectura, Pliny's work is one of few extant testimonies to the flowering of art criticism and art historical study in the Roman period. References: GW M34317; HC 13104; Pellechet 9368; Polain 3203; BMC V573; Goff P-800. - Visit our website to see more images!

Hardcover. Zustand: Very Good. 5th Edition. 14 August 1516. Folio (297 x 203 mm). [14], CCXIX, [1] leaves. Signatures: aa6 bb8 a-r? s6 A-O8 P6. Colophon on P5v, text in two columns. Including the final blank P6, title printed in red and black, printer's device on title, 38 woodcut illustrations in text, several large figurative- and small woodcut initials. Bound in 19th century vellum, spine with gilt lettering and ruling, boards with gilt ruling and central floral gilt tooling, vellum turn-ins gilt-decoated, red-dyed edges, marbled endpapers (spine and hinges at foot with light water damage, upper hinge cracked but holding). Text generally bright and clean, light dampstaining to lower gutter thoughout, occasional very minor spotting, single worm hole at lower margin of first gatherings, closed tear in leaf F7, some contemporary ink notes (mostly shaved at fore-margin). Provenances: Dyonisius Corronius (insription on title), whose library was composed of Greek and medical manuscripts (see Meyier, "Paul en Alexandre Petau en de geschiedenis van hun handschriften", 1947, p. 42); Nannet, Oratorian (inscribed on title); Jean Nélis (bookplate to fron pastedown); Mention of purchase in Lyon on title; Georges Petit. A nice, crisp copy. ---- br>Edit16 30044; Mortimer (Harvard Italian) 388; Essling 5; STC Italian 527; not in Adams. Fifth Italian translation by Cristoforo Landino (1st 1476) of Pliny's famous scientific encyclopaedia, and the first to be illustrated. The woodcuts, with one exception, were already used in the first illustrated Latin edition of 1513. A fine specimen of early 16th century Italian typography. With 38 woodcuts, including maps of Europe and Africa as well as representations of mining, handicraft, medicine, music and others. In his great encyclopaedia Pliny set forth by his own count 20,000 facts compiled from 2,000 different works, all of which he scrupulously cited in his remarkably thorough indices. The 36 books of this vast compilation, the only extant work of more than 100 said to have been composed by Pliny, cover cosmology, mathematics, geography, medicine, zoology, agriculture, botany, history, philosophy, anthropology, mineralogy, and the arts and literature. When Pliny died at the age of 56 while observing the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, the work was still unfinished. The importance of the Historia naturalis for the study of ancient art has somewhat been overshadowed by its renown as the first encyclopaedia of natural history. In fact, the Historia remains a principal source of information on the development of sculpture and painting and the techniques of metalworking and silversmithing in antiquity, topics covered in the last four books. Together with Vitruvius' De architectura, Pliny's work is one of few extant testimonies to the flowering of art criticism and art historical study in the Roman period. - Visit our website for additional images and information.

Beautifully rubricated 1483 edition of Pliny's encyclopaedia of all knowledge in the ancient world (PMM), edited by the Italian humanist Philippus Beroaldus (1453-1505). Divided into 37 books, the text is one of the largest works to survive from the Roman Empire, encompassing botany, zoology, astronomy, geology, geography, mineralogy, and art. First published in Venice in 1469 by Johannes de Spira, it marked the first appearance in print of any scientific text. The present work is the 11th edition overall, and the first and only by Reynaldus de Noviomago (dates unknown), originally from Nijmegen in the Netherlands.The Historia Naturalis aims to cover the full scope of ancient knowledge, drawing on the most authoritative sources available to Pliny. It remains a key reference for understanding Roman science, technology, and natural phenomena. The work preserves unique accounts of technical innovations such as mining techniques and the use of water mills for grinding, and many of its observations have been confirmed by archaeology. Pliny also provides rare descriptions of contemporary artists, making the work an invaluable source for art history. As the Dictionary of Scientific Biography notes, Pliny "holds a place of exceptional importance in the tradition and diffusion of Western culture."Widely read and highly influential in the 15th century, Historia Naturalis saw 18 early printed editions from 1469 to 1500, all produced in Italy. Despite occasional inaccuracies or lapses in citing sources, Pliny's compilation of "facts" is unique for its breadth and ambition. By quoting numerous classical authorities and including all material uncritically, he provides a comprehensive overview of ancient knowledge. Even the errors in his work offer modern scholars insight into both the understanding and misunderstanding of the natural world in antiquity.Gaius Plinius Secundus (23/24-79 CE), better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as a commander in the Roman army and navy and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. Devoting much of his life to observation, study, and travel, he produced this encyclopaedic work, which became a model for all subsequent encyclopaedias in its scope, meticulous referencing of sources, and detailed indexing, leaving a lasting legacy for the study of natural history in both the Renaissance and beyond.With a shelfmark(?) label mounted on the front pastedown, several 16th-century annotations in the text. The outer layer of the sheepskin has been rubbed off, leaving the suede layer, the work has been rebacked, with the original spine laid down. The first and last few leaves are slightly soiled, water stains in the margins of some of the leaves, sometimes slightly affecting the text, lacking the first blank leaf. Otherwise in good condition.l Goff P794; GW M34329; Hain-Copinger 13095; IDL 3731; ISTC ip00794000; Klebs 786.9; Oates 1783 (lacks first blank); Proctor 4445; cf. DSB 11, pp. 38-40; E. Ghareeb & I. Al Abed, United Arab Emirates: A New Perspective (London 2001), pp. 54-58; Printing and the mind of man 5. 17th-century blind-tooled sheepskin, sewn on 3 supports with the corresponding raised bands on the spine, red sprinkled edges. With the initials and book numbers alternatingly painted in red and blue. Pages: [355] ll.

Zustand: Good. First Edition. Folio. 2 vols. in 1. [60], 614, [42], [12], 632, [86]. First edition in English of Pliny's important encyclopedic work, which was, for centuries, considered the highest authority on subjects relating to the natural and physical world, including botany, zoology, geography, pharmacology, and more. Lowndes referred to this translation as a "work of immense labour, and what few men of his time could have executed in a superior manner to Dr. Holland." Near contemporary half brown calf over marbled boards, black gilt morocco lettering labels, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, wear to binding and joints, ink notations throughout, especially to front blank and title-page, ownership signatures on title, page 9 of vol. I, and page 4 of vol. II, as well as some ink markings to the woodcut devices on the first few leaves of vol. I and the final leaf in vol. II. This is a huge book for 1601 and copies with missing, or duplicated, or misbound leaves are seen with more frequency than slimmer books or later ones. This one has the complete text and prelims, and it has the often missing errata, after the Preface in vol. I, and at the end of vol. II, though it is not without its faults. B iii and B iv in vol. II are chipped at the margins, just touching the marginal citations, these two leaves may be supplied, imissing Ppp (index vol/ 2), there is creasing to the first few and last few leaves, and minor insect damage near the end of volume II, but withal it is a good, textually complete copy. Pliny's encyclopedic work functioned for centuries as the highest authority on subjects relating to the natural and physical world, including botany, zoology, geography, pharmacology, and numerous other disciplines. Completed around 77-79 CE, the"Natural History"synthesized Greek and Roman knowledge within a single comprehensive framework, drawing from nearly 500 sources to create what became arguably the most influential scientific text of the pre-modern period. Philemon Holland's 1601 translation brought Pliny's comprehensive compilation to English readers for the first time. Lowndes characterized this as a "work of immense labour, and what few men of his time could have executed in a superior manner." Holland's scholarly approach preserved the technical vocabulary while rendering complex concepts accessible to readers lacking classical training. Pliny himself embodied the Roman aristocratic ideal of combining administrative service with intellectual pursuit. Gaius Plinius Secundus served as Vespasian's admiral while compiling his vast encyclopedia, demonstrating the integration of practical governance and scholarly endeavor characteristic of the Roman elite. His death during the Vesuvius eruption of 79 CE (killed by ash inhalation while investigating the catastrophe) exemplifies the empirical curiosity that drove his encyclopedic project.

Praised 1532 edition of Pliny's Naturalis historia: "Cette édition citée avec éloge par Ernesti et par Rezzonico." (Brunet). Pliny's Natural history is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available at the time. It encompasses the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy, geology and mineralogy as well as the exploitation of those resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and understanding of natural phenomena at the time. ''We know from Pliny that there were important pearl fisheries in the Gulf Pliny identifies Tylos (Bahrain) as a place famous for its pearls [He] attests that pearls were the most highly rated valuable in Roman society, and that those from the Gulf were specially praised The pearl related finds at the site of El-Dur indicate the site was integrated into the maritime trade routes linking the Roman Empire, the Persian Empire, India and South Arabia'' (Carter).With bookplate on paste-down, some ink notes on the title-page, the first page, and occasionally in the margins; title-page a bit soiled; some wormholes near the end of the book, mostly in the margins. Binding slightly worn along the extremities. Overall in good condition.l Brunet IV, col. 715; Carter, ''The history and prehistory of pearling in the Persian Gulf'', in: Journal of the economic and social history of the orient, 48 (2005), pp.139-209; Graesse V, p. 339 ("Excellente édition"); for Pliny: DSB XI, pp. 38-40. 18th-century cat's paw calf, richly gold-tooled spine with red title-label, red edges. With a woodcut printer's device on the individual title-page for the index. Pages: [36], 671, [188] pp.

Folio. (16), 311, (60) ff. Title-page and sub-title to index with ornamental woodcut border. Woodcut initials, head and tail pieces. Calf, gold-tooled ribbed spine with title-label. Sprinkled edges. First edition of the "Natural history" edited by Johannes Caesarius (1468-1550), a humanist and close friend of Erasmus. The original text was by Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23 - August 25, AD 79), better known as Pliny the Elder. He 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 text in the present edition is decorated with woodcut borders and many woodcut initials. - The "Naturalis Historia" 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 claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work. It comprised 37 books in 10 volumes and covered over 20,000 facts on topics including the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy , geology and mineralogy as well as the exploitation of those resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and understanding of natural phenomena at the time. Some technical advances he discusses are the only sources for those inventions, such as hushing in mining technology or the use of water mills for crushing or grinding corn. Much of what he wrote about has been confirmed by archaeology. ''We know from Pliny that there were important pearl fisheries in the Gulf [.] Pliny identifies Tylos (Bahrain) as a place famous for its pearls [. He] attests that pearls were the most highly rated valuable in Roman society, and that those from the Gulf were specially praised [.] The pearl related finds at the site of El-Dur indicate the site was integrated into the maritime trade routes linking the Roman Empire, the Persian Empire, India and South Arabia'' (Carter). Book 6 holds a chapter that gives the first detailed account of the regions around the Gulf, including what are now Qatar, the Emirates and Oman. - Not only is it virtually the only work which describes the work of artists of the time, and has it become an important reference work for the history of art, due to the wide range of topics, the referencing system and index it became a model for later encyclopaedias. - With manuscript notes of multiple owners on pastedown (including written ex-libris by Antonii Mauritii Seguin 1713 and Mathon de la cour 1744). Some underling in text, and notes in the margins (partly lost due to trimmed edges). A very good copy with bookplate of De Ponsainpierre on pastedown. - VD 16, P 3531. Adams P 1556. BM-STC German 704. Durling 3689 (imperfect copy). Hunt 23. USTC (11 copies).