THE HISTORIE OF THE WORLD: COMMONLY CALLED THE NATURALL HISTORIE OF C. PLINUS SECUNDUS, Translated into English by Philemon Holland, Doctor of Physicke

The first Tome. [The second Tome]. The second printing, with numerous corrections, of the first English translation. Printed by Adam Islip in 1634, the first volume contains the title-page dated 1635 which was offered for sale by John Grismond, the second volume retains the 1634 title-page. Elaborate woodcut printer's device to title, engraved floriated initials and fine head and tail pieces throughout. Folio in 6s, 2 vols., bound in one, an excellent copy bound in full contemporary polished calf in original state, the back with raised bands over cords, covers with double fillet rules in blind. [56], 614, [42]; [12], 632, [86]. Advertisement leaf at end of vol. II pp. Collated complete. An especially desirable copy of this highly important book. In its rare original state, this book is seldom encountered. The textblock is crisp and unpressed and remains in a very pleasing state of preservation, some minor evidence of damp in a few places as to be expected, the spine with expert restoration at the head and tail of the panel, a beautiful copy.

Edizione: important early issue of the great translation of pliny into english by philemon holland. the second printing of the first full english translation of this important book. first published in venice in 1469, “the ‘natural history” of pliny the elder is more than a natural history: it is an encyclopaedia of all the knowledge of the ancient world. .he was a compiler rather than an original thinker, and the importance of this book depends more on his exhaustive reading (he quotes over four hundred authorities, greek and latin) than on his original work. all the spare time allowed him by a busy administrative career was devoted to reading; he began long before daybreak, his nephew the younger pliny recorded, and grudged every minute not spent in study; no book was so bad, he used to say, as not to contain something of value. when he died the 'natural history' (the sole extant work out of one hundred and two volumes from his pen) was still incomplete. it comprises thirty-seven books dealing with mathematics and physics, geography and astronomy, medicine and zoology, anthropology and physiology, philosophy and history, agriculture and mineralogy, the arts and letters. he is scrupulous in his acknowledgment of his sources (you must, he wrote, with honest humility, declare those from whom you have profited), and the whole of the first book is devoted to the tables of contents and authorities which bear witness to his method.<br> the historie soon became a standard book of reference: abstracts and abridgments appeared by the third century. bede owned a copy, alcuin sent the early books to charlemagne, and dicuil, the irish geographer, quotes him in the ninth century. it was the basis of isidorets etymologiae and such medieval encyclopedias as the speculum majus of vincent of beauvais and the catholicon of balbus. one of the earliest books to be printed at venice, the center from which so much of classical literature was first dispensed, it was later translated into english by philemon holland in 1601, and twice reprinted (a notable achievement for so vast a text). .<br> more recently, scholars as various as humboldt and grimm have praised and acknowledged their debt to it. over and over again it will be found that the source of some ancient piece of knowledge is pliny. (pmm)<br> the standard of reference for scholars since the 15th century, holland’s translation made it available to the english speaking world for the first time. although not strictly scientific itself, mingling a good deal of the author's fancy with fact, pliny's naturall historie was important in stimulating scientific thought in succeeding generations. "it is an encyclopedia of all the knowledge of the ancient world set out in an orderly fashion. it was the source of much medieval knowldege--and legend--and the model for such works as the speculum majus of vincent of beauvais. the high regard in which it was held in the world of the renaissance can be seen by its early appearance in print [1472]" (pmm).<br> the historie, divided into 37 libri, or "books", was completed, except for finishing touches, in 77 ce. in the preface, dedicated to titus (who became emperor shortly before pliny's death), pliny justified the title and explained his purpose on utilitarian grounds as the study of "the nature of things, that is, life" ("preface," 13). heretofore, he continued, no one had attempted to bring together the older, scattered material that belonged to "encyclic culture" <br>(egkyklios paideia, the origin of the word encyclopaedia). disdaining high literary style and political mythology, pliny adopted a plain style--but one with an unusually rich vocabulary--as best suited to his purpose. a novel feature of the naturall historie is the care taken by pliny in naming his sources, more than 100 of which ae authors and sometimes the titles of the books (many of which are now lost) from which pliny derived his material.<br> the historie, properly begins with book ii, which is devoted to cosmology and astronomy. here, as elsewhere, pliny demonstrated the extent of his reading, especially of greek texts.<br> books vii through xi treat zoology, beginning with humans (vii), then mammals and reptiles (viii), fishes and other marine aninmals (ix), birds (x), and insects (xi). in books xii throuogh xix, on botany pliny came closest to making great contributions to science. he drew heavily upon theophrastus, and still made important independent observations, particularly those made during his travels in germany. pliny is one of the chief sources of modern lknowledge of roman gardens, early botanical writings, and the introduction into italy of new horticultural and agricultural discoveries.<br> born at como in 23, pliny died while observing the eruption of vesuvius in 79 a.d. his naturalis historia is a scientific encyclopedia, often uncritical, but very elaborate and of great value. pliny attached to each book the list of his authorities, 146 roman and 327 greek being quoted. he explained that people may be living at the antipodes and stated that the speed of light is greater than that of sound. his work includes the oldest account of ancient art. in addition, it contains a remarkable amount of early information on asia and africa. its influence throughout the middle ages was very great.<br> this is an especially nice copy of the second offering of the work in english. this issue corrected the many errors of the first english edition. as with the copy listed in the british museum, the first tome has a new title page dated 1635. further, this is a variant issue with “and are to be sold by john grismond” after adam islip on the imprint. dedicated to sir robert cecil.