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Sunday 22 June 2014

Pliny: Natural History (4)

Philemon Holland’s seventeenth century translation of ‘The Natural Historie of C Plinius Secundus’ was a surprise find whilst cleaning our old cellar space at Hollytrees last autumn.  The book is dated 1634. It was originally published by Pliny the elder c77-79AD and is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire.

We should not be surprised to see accounts of bees and honey, of grapes and wine, of olives and oil, and salt.  “They will not go from their hive about their busines about 60 paces: & if it chance, that within the precinct of these limits they finde not flores sufficient: out goe their spies, whom they send forth to discover forage farther off”.

“More plenty of hony is gathered in the full of the Moone”.

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