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Historiae mundi libri XXXVII. Opus omni quidem commendatione maius, sed nullis ad hunc diem editionibus, nulla cuiusquam singulari vel opera, vel industria, à mendis, quæ aut temporum iniquitate, aut superiorum ætatum negligentia, inter

Scienze naturali

The text presented here is one of the numerous editions of Pliny’s Historia naturalis under the name of Historia Mundi. It is well known that Pliny’s opus is an encyclopedic work in 37 books that deal to some degree with all that can be known. Books 12 to 26 are concerned specifically with botanical matters. The other books concern geography, animals and a variety of other subjects. In each chapter of this edition, annotations occasionally follow Pliny’s text. This is true for the books on botany as well, where the commentator puts on display his own wealth of knowledge in making various annotations and citing many classical authors, such as Teophrastus and Diocorides. After having been a fundamental authority throughout the Middle Ages, Pliny’s insights apparently withstood the passage of time. During the High Renaissance his works evidently continued to be enjoyed, being deemed worthy of publishing and comment. Not by chance does our work contain a weighty commentary by Sigismundo Gelenio and an Index Plinianae Historiae.

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