Pliny. Natural History (1)

Surprise Find during Cellar Clearance

A book dating back to 1634 was found languishing in a cardboard box destined for the rubbish tip.  When members of the Society were downsizing and relocating the storeroom of books at Hollytrees last November they found underneath a large number of indexes to Transactions ‘The Natural Historie of C Plinius Secundus’.  The 1100 plus page book contains two volumes, or tombes.  David Andrews, who was present when the discovery was made wrote, “It's the well-known translation by Philemon Holland, as used by Shakespeare. But this is the 1634 edition, not the 1601 one - hence only £1,900 on Abe Books. (But don't let the Society think it should sell it!)”.  The inside cover has an Essex Archaeological Society bookplate printed ‘The Gift of Philip G Laver, F.S.A.’. It was probably acquired from his collection when he died in 1941.

According to Wikipedia, the book was originally published by Pliny the elder c77-79AD.  It is an encyclopedia containing an array of ancient knowledge and is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire.

Members of Council, when told of the discovery at their February meeting, were told of the remedy “for them that are bitten by a mad dog” is the root of sweet briar. The remedy for a mad dog is removal of its tail.

The book is not in pristine condition having anciently received the attention of bookworms who clearly had an appetite for natural history.

A very thorough search of all contents of boxes to be discarded was undertaken prior to vacating the old storeroom.

Before Pliny is accessioned to the Library it will be brought to the Annual General Meeting (on 7 June at Coggeshall) for viewing.