Pliny Natural History, Vol. I (Loeb Latin-English)

and not for entertainment. Its compilation occupied the leisure left to the author by the claims of public duty. The authorities drawn upon are faithfully recorded. The matter-of-fact title, in place of some fanciful label, indicates the author's aim, and the practical object of the work is aided by the table of contents that forms Book I, enabling the reader to turn to any particular subject he wishes to look up.

Book I: Table of Contents of the remaining thirty-six books, with the contents of each book followed by a list of the previous writers used as authorities.

Book II (see Book I init.): Cosmology, astronomy, meteorology, geography, geology.