Pliny the Elder: The Natural History Book VII (with Book VIII 1-34)

Description

Pliny the Elder's Natural History is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. 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. Book VII of The Natural History provides a detailed examination of the human animal and is crucial to understanding the work as a whole. In Pliny's eyes, mankind 'for whose sake nature was created', represents the basis for which the natural world was founded and structured. As a result, the book provides valuable insight into the extraordinary complex of ideas and beliefs that were current in Pliny's era. One of the most interesting transitions of subject in The Natural History is that from man to animals (between Books VII and VIII) and for this reason the section on elephants at the beginning of Book VIII is included here, to show how Pliny moves on to his account of the animal he considers 'nearest to the human disposition'. This edition provides the full Latin text accompanied by commentary notes that provide linguistic help and explanations, plus vocabulary lists of Latin terms and an index of proper names. The in-depth introduction provides valuable details about the work's historical, scientific and literary context, as well as an overview of the work's legacy and reception.

Tyler T. Travillian is Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics, Pacific Lutheran University, USA.

[Travillian] supplies the Latin, a commentary with helpful, school-style grammatical as well as generous background information ... extensive notes on [Pliny's] style; his later reception, and further reading ... [A]n admirably wide-ranging edition, well-suited to introducing to a wide audience both Pliny himself and the realisation that, for a Roman, the world was a place of wonders. * Classics For All Reviews * This meticulous edition brings a complete book of the Natural History within the reach of an advanced Latin class for the first time ... Book 7 of the Natural History is a weird, fun read. It is also currently the best served book of the Natural History in English, in that Mary Beagon has produced a translation and a scholarly commentary on the translated text that complements Travillian's edition of the Latin text for students. * Classics Ireland * [T]his collection promotes the value of Latin and Greek. * Revue des Etudes Anciennes (Bloomsbury Translation) * Students and scholars alike will welcome Dr. Travillian's stimulating and useful presentation of this fascinating and often overlooked text. It is especially pleasing to have an accessible text of Pliny's treatment of elephants, creatures he rightly believes capable of teaching us about ourselves and the world we (and they) inhabit. -- Loren J. Samons II, Professor of Classical Studies, Boston University, USA