Pliny the Elder’s Historia Naturalis (Natural History) is perhaps one of the most significant works from the Roman world to survive to the present day. Not limited to the modern definition of nature, the work covers many aspects of Roman life, including art, agriculture, medicine, astronomy and metallurgy.

Thanks to repeated transmission throughout the medieval period and into the Renaissance, the encyclopaedia provides a remarkable summary of the Roman world view in the first century CE. Serving as a compilation of the knowledge then available, rather than through his own observations, by Pliny’s death in 79 CE, his Historia Naturalis covered 37 books containing 20,000 subjects taken from 2,000 works by over 100 authors.

Born to a wealthy family in Comum (modern Como, northern Italy), Pliny first served as a military commander in Germania, later moving to Rome, where he observed first-hand the catastrophic fire of 64 CE. Following the accession of Vespasian to the imperial throne in 69 CE, Pliny re-entered military service, serving for a time in Africa (modern Tunisia and Libya) and in Hispania (modern Spain). Sometime in the following decade, he returned to Rome, where he was awarded the command of the fleet stationed at Misenum in the Bay of Naples. It was around this time, c. 77 CE, that he began to compile the Historia Naturalis. He was present at the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, and through his curiosity at the event and through his sense of duty, he travelled across the bay to rescue survivors at Stabiae, where he died, likely of poisoning from the noxious gases coming from the volcano.

This 1855 edition was published as part of Bohn's Classical Library, one of the 'lbrary' series of the publisher Henry G. Bohn. Over 600 volumes in the series were published to provide affordable copies of standard works of popular literature, classical literature and subjects such as history, science, theology and archaeology for mid-nineteenth-century readers.