diff --git a/pyiceberg/table/inspect.py b/pyiceberg/table/inspect.py
index 5cae743313..a50759d3a0 100644
--- a/pyiceberg/table/inspect.py
+++ b/pyiceberg/table/inspect.py
@@ -65,6 +65,13 @@ def _get_snapshot(self, snapshot_id: int | None = None) -> Snapshot:
         else:
             raise ValueError("Cannot get a snapshot as the table does not have any.")
 
+    def _get_snapshots_by_id(self) -> dict[int, Snapshot]:
+        """Index the snapshots by ID, for methods that look up many of them.
+
+        snapshot_by_id is a linear scan, so calling it once per row is quadratic.
+        """
+        return {snapshot.snapshot_id: snapshot for snapshot in self.tbl.metadata.snapshots}
+
     def snapshots(self) -> pa.Table:
         import pyarrow as pa
 
@@ -310,13 +317,14 @@ def partitions(
         )
 
         partitions_map: dict[tuple[str, Any], Any] = {}
+        snapshots_by_id = self._get_snapshots_by_id()
 
         for entry in itertools.chain.from_iterable(scan._plan_manifest_entries()):
             partition = entry.data_file.partition
             partition_record_dict = {
                 field.name: partition[pos] for pos, field in enumerate(self.tbl.metadata.specs()[entry.data_file.spec_id].fields)
             }
-            entry_snapshot = self.tbl.snapshot_by_id(entry.snapshot_id) if entry.snapshot_id is not None else None
+            entry_snapshot = snapshots_by_id.get(entry.snapshot_id) if entry.snapshot_id is not None else None
             self._update_partitions_map_from_manifest_entry(
                 partitions_map, entry.data_file, partition_record_dict, entry_snapshot
             )
@@ -532,9 +540,10 @@ def history(self) -> pa.Table:
 
         history = []
         metadata = self.tbl.metadata
+        snapshots_by_id = self._get_snapshots_by_id()
 
         for snapshot_entry in metadata.snapshot_log:
-            snapshot = metadata.snapshot_by_id(snapshot_entry.snapshot_id)
+            snapshot = snapshots_by_id.get(snapshot_entry.snapshot_id)
 
             history.append(
                 {