Naturalis historia

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The Naturalis historia in the Florence manuscript, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana , Plut. 82.4, fol. 3r (15th century)

The Naturalis historia (also Historia naturalis , German "Naturforschung" or "Naturgeschichte") is an encyclopedia in Latin by the Roman historian and writer Gaius Plinius Secundus . It was created around AD 77 and deals with topics that today would mainly be assigned to the natural sciences, but also medicine, geography, art and other topics. It is the oldest fully transmitted systematic encyclopedia.

content

The Naturalis historia comprises 37 books with a total of 2493 chapters. According to the bibliography, a total of approximately 500 authors were processed. All 37 volumes of the extensive encyclopedia have been preserved in their entirety, as they have been continuously received and reproduced. The natural history knowledge around 50 AD was gathered in it. This makes the work an important source for the assessment and reception of ancient knowledge today .

Pliny arranged the traditional scientific knowledge of Greek authors such as Aristotle , Theophrastus and Hippocrates of Kos directly from manuscripts and related this with new geographical knowledge of Catos , Varros , Agrippas , Mucianus , Corbulos and others. The work is particularly characterized by its structure: It consists of 37 volumes that can be used independently of one another. A volume of Naturalis historia could thus function as a manual for a subject. The encyclopedia dealt with the subjects of cosmography (book 2), geography and climatology (book 3–6), anthropology (book 7), zoology (book 8–11), botany (book 12–19), medicine (20–32 ), Metallurgy and mineralogy as well as painting and art history (book 33–37).

structure

Pliny divided the entire work into 2493 chapters, which he in turn systematically divided into 37 books. Pliny did not name the sciences he described. The following list follows the table of contents in the order, but names the sciences with the names customary today (2007). The number of subjects covered (keywords) is given in brackets after the table of contents of each book (na = not given).

  • 1: Preface , table of contents and source index
  • 2: Cosmology, astronomy, meteorology, volcanology , geology (417)
  • 3–6: Geography and ethnology : Europe (na, estimated 5000), Africa (118 islands, remainder na, estimated 2000), Asia (2214)
  • 7: Anthropology and Physiology (747)
  • 8–11: Zoology : land animals (787), aquatic animals (650), birds (794), insects and general zoology (2700)
  • 12-17: Botany
    • 12: Natural history of trees (469)
    • 13: exotic trees (468)
    • 14: fruit-bearing trees (510)
    • 15: Properties of fruit-bearing trees (520)
    • 16: Properties of trees growing in the wild (1135)
    • 17: Condition of the trees planted (1380)
  • 18: Agriculture, Meteorology , Zoology (2060)
  • 19: Horticulture (1144)
  • 20–32: Medicine, pharmacology and continuation of botany
    • 20-27: Plant Kingdom
    • 28–32: Remedies from the animal kingdom
      • 28: Remedies from living things (1682)
      • 29: Remedies from animals (621)
      • 30: The other remedies from the animals (854)
      • 31–32: Remedies from aquatic animals (1914)
  • 33–37: Metallurgy, mineralogy and fine arts

The total number of subjects (keywords) covered is around 40,000.

Testimonials

In his preface Pliny uses the Greek expression τῆς ἐγκυκλίου παιδείας tes enkykliou paideias , from which the word encyclopedia may later originate:

"I now intend to touch on everything that the Greeks τῆς ἐγκυκλίου παιδείας called, which is either still unknown or not yet reliably explored."

- Naturalis historia , Praefatio 14

Regarding the scope of his work, Pliny states:

“Twenty thousand strange objects, collected by reading about two thousand books, of which only a few are used by the scholars because of their difficult content, by a hundred of the best writers, I have summarized in 36 books, but I have added a lot, of which either ours Ancestors knew nothing or what life only discovered later. "

- Naturalis historia , Praefatio 17

reception

The beginning of the 4th book of Naturalis historia in the Leiden manuscript, library of the Rijksuniversiteit , Voss. Lat. F. 4, fol. 20v (first half of the 8th century)
Pliny (left) presents Emperor Titus with a scroll dedicated to his work. Illumination in a manuscript of the Naturalis historia . Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana , Plut. 82.1, fol. 2v (early 13th century)

Antiquity

Pliny the Elder's work has already been received by contemporaries of the author. Quintilian , for example, had the Naturalis historia available when writing his Institutio oratoria . In addition, his elaborations are based on Pliny 's lost rhetorical work. Later Apuleius and Aulus Gellius appealed to Pliny. Solinus wrote a compilation of books 3–13 and 37 of the Naturalis historia . The importance of Naturalis historia was thus already evident in the ancient reception of Pliny 's oeuvre .

middle Ages

In the 7th century, Bishop Isidore of Seville referred to Pliny ' Naturalis historia in his Etymologiae and imitated the structure of the work. Isidore must have had a precise knowledge of the text of the Naturalis historia so that he could imitate its structure in his work. Nevertheless, it is disputed in research whether he had an original manuscript or only an indirect tradition. Isidore's remarks are based on the natural history of Pliny in the areas of cosmology, zoology, geography and precious stones. In the period from the 8th to the 11th century, the Naturalis historia was mostly cited indirectly through various encyclopedic works and excerpts.

A great interest in manuscripts of the Naturalis historia developed in the 11th century. Above all, clerics in monasteries dealt with the naturalis historia from a philological point of view , for example Gerbert von Reims strived to improve the Pliny work. Others like Abbo dealt with individual sections of the Naturalis historia . The monk Oliva referred to Pliny ' Naturalis historia in his encyclopedia about the measurement of time .

This high esteem for the ancient work was preserved in the 12th century. The Benedictine monk Honorius Augustodunensis used the Naturalis historia to create his Imago Mundi . In addition, important collections on certain scientific topics were prepared on the basis of the Naturalis historia . A list of plants was written in Clairvaux and Hildegard von Bingen wrote a work on the healing power of stones. The Naturalis historia was now also used as a textbook in the schools of Chartres , Laon and Oxford . For example, it was specially edited by Robert von Cricklade. On behalf of King Henry II , the book was rewritten in a Christian sense in 1154, but this attempt at censorship was not accepted. Natural history continued to be received directly and cited in scientific texts.

In the 13th century, Aristotelian writings overlaid Pliny’s reception. Additional knowledge from antiquity came into play after translation schools such as the Toledo School of Translators had translated Greek scripts into Latin in the 12th century .

In the 14th century, naturalis historia was increasingly viewed critically and its informational value was scientifically questioned. Francesco Petrarca checked, for example, the geographical and antiquarian information as well as the place names and the description of the monuments in books 1–15 and 25–37. Even Giovanni Boccaccio dealt textual criticism with the work.

In the 15th century, attention turned to cosmographic books. In his work Imago Mundi, Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly referred to the Ptolemaic view of the world and supplemented it with aspects of the Naturalis historia . In his Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus, Olaus Magnus refuted Pliny 's idea of ​​an old orbis . Despite a few critical texts, the Naturalis historia retained its prestige.

While the Naturalis historia was widely received in the Middle Ages, the other writings of Pliny received relatively little attention. In the areas of cosmography, geography and medicine in particular, the naturalis historia was considered a great authority. There were over 200 manuscripts across Europe, and numerous manuscripts have been preserved. Through this uninterrupted and broad reception, the Naturalis historia displaced other encyclopedic works. It can be described as canonical, since scholars of the Middle Ages generally received it, either directly or indirectly through works based on it, for example by Isidore. In addition, the text was used as a textbook in schools for scholars. Due to its enormous importance in the Middle Ages, the Naturalis historia can be regarded as the most valuable source in the history of science .

Early modern age

A page of the Naturalis historia in the incunabula of 1469
Title page of Naturalis historia , edition of 1669

In 1469 the Latin first edition Historiae naturalis libri XXXVII was published in Venice by Johannes and Wendelin von Speyer. More than 50 complete editions were published between 1469 and 1599. Between 1469 and 1799 a total of 222 complete and 281 selected editions of the Naturalis historia were published .

The first German-language (partial) translation of books 7 to 11 was made by Heinrich von Eppendorff and printed in Strasbourg in 1543 under the title Natural History Five Books ; however, it received little attention. Quite different translation of the theologian Johann Heyden ( Caij Plinij Secundi, Des fürtrefflichen high scholar old Philosophi books and Schrifften by nature, art and creatures or Geschöpffe intrinsically creates God ), which appeared in 1565 in Frankfurt am Main and over 200 woodcuts by Jost Amman contained .

Modern

The scientific quality of Naturalis historia has been judged very unfavorably in the modern age. In the 19th century, scholars such as Theodor Mommsen or Arthur Schopenhauer discredited the work. However, it has received some attention from poets and writers. For the German polymath Alexander von Humboldt , too , the work was an inspiration for the conception of the cosmos - draft of a physical description of the world , even if he criticized the lack of empiricism .

Especially in Romance literature, pictures of the natural history of Pliny can be found in literary works by Gustave Flaubert , Jorge Luis Borges and Italo Calvino . For example, Gustave Flaubert's Leçon d'histoire naturelle is clearly part of this tradition. At the present time, the work of Pliny is the subject of philological and anthropological studies.

Trivia

The phrase Turpe est in patria vivere et patriam ignorare , which Pliny likes to attribute here, cannot be traced .

Editions and translations

  • C [ajus] Plinius Secundus d [er] Ä [older]: Natural history Latin-German. Tusculum Collection , edited and translated by Roderich König in collaboration with Joachim Hopp (from volume 23), Gerhard Winkler and Wolfgang Glöckler, 37 books (and registers) in 32 volumes, Artemis & Winkler, Munich, from volume XXVI / XXVII also Zurich and Heimeran 1973–2004 (also Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, and Patmos, Düsseldorf), ISBN 3-7608-1618-5 (reading edition of the Latin text with translation and explanations).
  • Ludwig von Jan , Karl Mayhoff (ed.): C. Plinii Secundi naturalis historiae libri XXXVII. Teubner, Stuttgart 1967–2002 (reprint of the authoritative Latin Leipzig edition from 1892–1909 in 6 volumes).
  • The natural history of Cajus Plinius Secundus. Translated into German and annotated by Georg Christoph Wittstein. 6 volumes, Gressner & Schramm, Leipzig 1881/82; New edition, ed. by Lenelotte Möller and Manuel Vogel, 2 volumes, Marix, Wiesbaden 2007.
  • C. Plinii Secundi Naturalis historia. Edited by D. Detlefsen , I – VI (in 3 volumes), Berlin 1866–1882.

literature

  • Wolfgang Hübner : The descensus as an ordering principle in the 'Naturalis historia' of Pliny . In: Christel Meier (Ed.): The Encyclopedia in Change from the High Middle Ages to the Early Modern Age . Fink, Munich 2002, pp. 25-41.
  • Francesca Berno: Pliny d. Ä. (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Kulturhistorisches Werklexikon (= Der Neue Pauly . Supplements. Volume 7). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2010, ISBN 978-3-476-02034-5 , Sp. 697-726.
  • Arno Borst : The book of natural history. Pliny and his readers in the age of parchment. 2nd Edition. Winter, Heidelberg 1995, ISBN 3-8253-0132-X .
  • Franz Brunhölzl : Pliny the Elder in the Middle Ages . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 7, LexMA-Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7608-8907-7 , column 21 f.

Tools

Web links

Commons : Naturalis historia  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Naturalis Historia  - Sources and full texts (Latin)

Latin editions

Translations

Remarks

  1. ↑ Francesca Berno: Pliny d. Ä. (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, p. 697.
  2. ^ Cancik, Hubert: Or - Poi, p. 1139.
  3. ^ Franz Brunhölzl: Pliny the Elder in the Middle Ages. In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . Vol. 7, Col. 21 f.
  4. ↑ Francesca Berno: Pliny d. Ä. (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, pp. 697-699.
  5. ↑ Francesca Berno: Pliny the Elder (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, p. 700.
  6. ↑ Francesca Berno: Pliny the Elder (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, p. 703.
  7. ↑ a b c Francesca Berno: Plinius the Elder (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, p. 704.
  8. ↑ Bodo Näf (Ed.): Roberti Crikeladensis Defloratio Naturalis Historiae Plinii Secundi , Bern 2002.
  9. ↑ Francesca Berno: Pliny the Elder (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, p. 709.
  10. ↑ a b Francesca Berno: Pliny the Elder (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, p. 699.
  11. ↑ Francesca Berno: Pliny the Elder (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, p. 710.
  12. ↑ Gerhard Winkler: Pliny the Elder. In: Bernhard Zimmermann (Ed.): Metzler Lexicon of ancient literature. Authors, genres, terms. Stuttgart 2004, p. 555.
  13. ^ First edition (1469), digitized version of the Vienna University Library
  14. ↑ Sample pages from the German edition by Johann Heyden (1565), deutsches-museum.de
  15. ↑ a b Francesca Berno: Pliny d. Ä. (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, p. 720.
  16. ↑ Eberhard Knobloch: Thoughts on Humboldt's Kosmos
  17. ↑ Arno Borst: The book of natural history. Pliny and his readers in the age of parchment: Submitted on November 6, 1993. Heidelberg 1994, p. 3.
  18. ↑ Francesca Berno: Pliny the Elder (Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus maior). Naturalis historia. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Stuttgart 2010, p. 722.