Praised 1532 edition of Pliny's Naturalis historia: "Cette édition citée avec éloge par Ernesti et par Rezzonico..." (Brunet). Pliny's Natural history is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available at the time. It encompasses the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy, geology and mineralogy as well as the exploitation of those resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and understanding of natural phenomena at the time.
''We know from Pliny that there were important pearl fisheries in the Gulf ... Pliny identifies Tylos (Bahrain) as a place famous for its pearls ... [He] attests that pearls were the most highly rated valuable in Roman society, and that those from the Gulf were specially praised ... The pearl related finds at the site of El-Dur indicate the site was integrated into the maritime trade routes linking the Roman Empire, the Persian Empire, India and South Arabia'' (Carter).
With bookplate on paste-down, some ink notes on the title-page, the first page, and occasionally in the margins; title-page a bit soiled; some wormholes near the end of the book, mostly in the margins. Binding slightly worn along the extremities. Overall in good condition. Brunet IV, col. 715; Carter, ''The history and prehistory of pearling in the Persian Gulf'', in: Journal of the economic and social history of the orient, 48 (2005), pp.139-209; Graesse V, p. 339 ("Excellente édition"); for Pliny: DSB XI, pp. 38-40.