John Bostock and H. T. Riley
Translators of Pliny the Elder's Natural History (1855–57)
- John Bostock
- c. 1773–1846, physician and scientist, Liverpool and London
- Henry Thomas Riley
- 1816–1878, barrister, translator and archivist
- Joint work
- The Natural History of Pliny, 6 vols. (1855–57)
- Publisher
- Bohn's Classical Library, London
A doctor and a classical translator whose joint English Pliny (1855–57) is still the most quoted free version of the Natural History.
What are John Bostock and H. T. Riley known for?
John Bostock was a Liverpool-born physician and scientist. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, lectured in chemistry at Guy's Hospital in London, and in 1819 gave the first accurate description of hay fever. He was president of the Geological Society and a vice-president of the Royal Society. He had been working on an English translation of Pliny the Elder when he died in 1846.
Henry Thomas Riley, a Cambridge graduate and barrister, made his living translating Latin and Greek texts for Bohn's Classical Library and later inspected archives for the Historical Manuscripts Commission. He completed Bostock's work, and The Natural History of Pliny appeared in six volumes in 1855–57.
Pliny's encyclopedia, finished in 77 CE, collects reports on everything from astronomy to animals, often without checking them. Book 2 records omens such as a burning shield crossing the sky in 100 BCE.
The site quotes the Bostock and Riley translation for Pliny's burning shield that crossed the sky in 100 BCE.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holePliny's burning shield
Sources
- Perseus Digital Library, Pliny the Elder, 'The Natural History', tr. John Bostock and H. T. RileyPrimary text
- Wikipedia, 'John Bostock (physician)'Reference
- Wikipedia, 'Henry Thomas Riley'Reference
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