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How many books are included in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History?
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Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder.
Pliny the Elder’s Natural History is divided into 37 libri, or books.1
Completed in 77 ce, the work is organized as follows:
- Book I: A summary of the entire work, including a list of the authors and sources from which Pliny derived his material.21
- Book II: Cosmology and astronomy.21
- Books III–VI: Physical and historical geography.21
- Books VII–XI: Zoology.21
- Books XII–XIX: Botany and agriculture.21
- Books XX–XXXII: Medicine and drugs.21
- Books XXXIII–XXXVII: Geology, mineralogy, and the use of metals and stones in technology and art.21