Recovering a Late-Antique Edition of Pliny's <i>Natural History"

Sixth- to thirteenth-century Latin authors provide reliable evidence of an augmented edition of Pliny's Natural History, likely produced around 300–350 CE, which includes previously ignored extracts. Greek writers of the same era also produced augmented versions of scientific texts to update and expand the original works. Paul T. Keyser's efforts to recover the augmented Natural History suggest that late-antique Latin writers were also renovators of their scientific literature, aiming to complete Pliny with new data and organize his presentations for greater usefulness.

Format: Hardback
Length: 282 pages
Publication date: 15 September 2020
Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing Inc

Six authors have cited over forty excerpts from Pliny's Natural History that are missing from our manuscripts. These extracts have been virtually ignored by scholars and have never been systematically studied. This book demonstrates that the six sources, Latin writers from the fifth to thirteenth centuries CE, are reliable and argues that their extracts should be considered good evidence of an augmented edition of Pliny, likely produced around 300 to 350 CE. Greek writers of the same era also produced augmented versions of scientific texts to update, expand, and complete the work of the original authors. Pliny's work is structured in a way that invites augmentation. Paul T. Keyser's efforts to recover the augmented Natural History suggest that late-antique Latin writers were also renovators of their scientific literature. Keyser argues that the unknown augmentor aimed to complete Pliny with new data and to organize Pliny's sometimes scattered presentations, all with the aim of making Pliny's work more useful. The evidence shows that even in unfavorable times, some Latin writers were able to continue practicing science.

Weight: 520g
Dimension: 155 x 229 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781433168260
Edition number: New ed