Diotimos Reading Desk

Tap the page, move to the top or bottom edge, swipe down, or press Tab to reveal reading controls. Use the arrow keys or swipe sideways to turn pages.

← ExitThe Anatomy of Melancholy

Reading language

Contextual Lexicon

The places. Hope arises in relation to an absent good. (p. 25; DJR-025-28.) The sufferer questions the grounds of spiritual assurance. (p. 714; DJR-167-54.)

In this edition. “Hope, Love, Desire, and Concupiscence” → “hope, love, desire and longing” (DJR-025-28); “discern my security from carnall presumption” → “distinguish my assurance from fleshly presumption” (DJR-167-54). Hope remains in the classification. Assurance clarifies security in the related theological passage without treating the two words as interchangeable.

Hospital

Source forms: hospitals; spittle

The word. A hospital can be a charitable residence or institution of care, not only a place for medical treatment. Spittle is a shortened form of hospital, often referring to provision for the sick or poor.

In Burton. Burton’s proposed commonwealth provides institutions for children, older people, soldiers and others as well as the sick. In the attack on uncharitable wealth, a hospital and spittle join orphans and a prison in a petition that the passing rich man refuses to hear.

The places. The proposed commonwealth includes institutions for several groups. (p. 61; DJR-016-06.) Institutions for vulnerable people petition for help. (p. 430; DJR-112-16.)

In this edition. “hospitals of all kinds” → “institutions of every kind” (DJR-016-06); “an Hospital, a Spittle” → “a hospital, a shelter for the sick” (DJR-112-16). Institutions preserves the breadth of the first list. Shelter for the sick explains spittle while hospital remains beside it in the second.

See also. Church patronage; Entertain.

Humane learning

Source forms: humanity; philologer

The word. Humanity can name secular learning, especially the study of language and literature, in contrast with divinity or theology. A philologer is a student of language and literature; the term does not mean someone chiefly distinguished by kindness.

In Burton. Burton defends his decision to write on medicine by conceding that other subjects within secular learning and theology would have been more familiar to him. His satire of rewards then shows fashionable skills and practical services bringing advancement sooner than literary study.

The places. Humanity is paired with divinity as a field of study. (p. 14; DJR-006-10.) The philologer is poorly rewarded beside other workers. (p. 37–38; DJR-011-09.)

In this edition. “humanity and divinity” → “secular learning and theology” (DJR-006-10); “a philologer or a poet” → “a student of literature or a poet” (DJR-011-09). The modern terms identify the subjects and the scholar’s activity. The article heading gathers this educational vocabulary rather than quoting one phrase from the passages.

See also. Divine; Cento; Neoterics.

Humoral qualities

Source forms: cold and dry; temperature

The word. Cold and dry are bodily qualities in humoral physiology. Temperature can mean the balance of such qualities in a constitution, rather than a numerical measure of heat.

In Burton. Burton attributes coldness and dryness to older men in a discussion of jealous marriages, contrasting them with the supposed vigour of young wives. In the polemic about fasting, he describes bodily balance as endangered by practices to which excessive spiritual merit is attributed.

The places. Old age is described as naturally cold and dry. (p. 598; DJR-145-25.) The body’s temperature is disturbed by the condemned practices. (p. 655–656; DJR-156-06.)

In this edition. “cold and dry by nature” → “naturally cold and dry” (DJR-145-25); “the temperature of their bodies” → “the balance of their bodies” (DJR-156-06). The qualities remain literal terms within Burton’s historical model. Balance makes temperature intelligible without importing a thermometer reading.

See also. Humour; Green sickness.

Humour

Source forms: gross humors; humorous; simple

The word. Humours are bodily fluids within the historical physiological model. Their thickness, mixture and condition are said to affect both body and mind. Humorous can consequently describe a variable mood or disposition; it need not mean amusing.

In Burton. Burton argues that thick humours can obstruct the body and disturb the soul. His symptom catalogue then describes rapid changes between laughter and tears as humorous. In the discussion of exceptional intellect, the argument turns on a mixture of humours: simple means unmixed, while adust means scorched.

The places. Thick humours are said to disturb the soul. (p. 173; DJR-056-53.) Humorous describes extreme changes of mood. (p. 186; DJR-059-30.) The distinction between unmixed and mixed humours shapes the argument about intellect. (p. 207; DJR-064-05.)

In this edition. “gross humors” → “thick humours” (DJR-056-53); “Humorous they are beyond all measure” → “They are changeable beyond all measure” (DJR-059-30); “not of the simple” → “not the unmixed humour” (DJR-064-05). Thick, changeable and unmixed state the particular senses. Retaining humour elsewhere allows the historical bodily model to remain visible.

Hypochondria

Source forms: Hypocondries; hypocondries; Hypocondriacal

The word. The hypochondria are the upper abdominal regions beneath the ribs; hypochondrium is singular. Hypochondriacal therefore has an anatomical force in these passages, especially in relation to the spleen and supposed wind or vapours.

In Burton. The term appears both in the general map of the body and among the parts said to cause melancholy. The symptom discussion distinguishes right and left regions in connection with liver and spleen, then describes swelling and belching. Burton’s introductory account similarly names hypochondriacal wind as a common trouble.

The places. Hypochondria occur in the catalogue of bodily causes. (p. 174; DJR-057-02.) The anatomical list locates the regions beneath the ribs. (p. 16; DJR-024-02.) Right and left hypochondria are associated with different symptoms. (p. 200; DJR-062-17.) Splenic hypochondriacal wind is emphasized. (p. 76; DJR-019-19.)

In this edition. “Hypocondries” → “hypochondria” (DJR-057-02); “hypocondries” → “regions beneath the ribs” (DJR-024-02); “right Hypocondrie” → “right hypochondrium” (DJR-062-17); “left Hypocondrie” → “left hypochondrium” (DJR-062-17); “Hypocondriacal winde” → “hypochondriacal wind” (DJR-019-19). The explanatory phrase in the anatomical list supports the technical terms retained elsewhere. They are not automatically equivalents for modern health anxiety.

Idiot

Source forms: idiots

The word. Idiots here means unlearned people. It is one term in a disparaging description of ignorance, not a precise designation of intellectual capacity.

In Burton. Burton argues that contempt for learning grows from lack of learning. His series of insults turns back on people who judge scholars by their own uncultivated standards.

The places. Idiots forms part of the attack on contempt for scholarship. (p. 138; DJR-048-29.)

In this edition. “idiots” → “unlearned” (DJR-048-29). Unlearned identifies the educational sense while the surrounding adjectives preserve the passage’s hostility.

See also. Silly.

Idleness

Source forms: Idleness

The word. Idleness in this causal discussion means inactivity or lack of occupation. It is closely associated with excessive solitude, but the two remain distinct conditions.

In Burton. Burton calls too much solitude idleness’s first cousin and accompanying cause. He then distinguishes solitude imposed on a person from solitude freely chosen. The kinship metaphor connects the causes without making all time alone identical with idleness.

13522.Edited source passages: p. 61 (DJR-016-06); p. 430 (DJR-112-16). Existing edition notes: DJR-016:E03, DJR-112:E16. DJR-016:E03 explains the wider charitable sense. DJR-112:E16 treats the suffering and ignored appeal as part of Burton’s moral indictment.

13523.Edited source passages: p. 14 (DJR-006-10); p. 37–38 (DJR-011-09). Existing edition notes: DJR-011:E08. DJR-011:E08 leaves paint Thais open between portrayal and cosmetic adornment. That uncertainty does not affect the comparison of rewards for literary study.

13524.Edited source passages: p. 598 (DJR-145-25); p. 655–656 (DJR-156-06). Existing edition notes: DJR-145:E17, DJR-156:E06. DJR-145:E17 explains the contrast with full of sap and the reference to Chaucer’s January. DJR-156:E06 distinguishes Burton’s attack on claims for fasting from a rejection of all restraint in eating.

13525.Edited source passages: p. 173 (DJR-056-53); p. 186 (DJR-059-30); p. 207 (DJR-064-05). Existing edition notes: DJR-056:E42, DJR-059:E28, DJR-064:E05. DJR-064:E05 distinguishes constitutional black bile from disease and preserves the body’s half-blood mixture beside the margin’s double proportion. The accounts of temperament and intellectual gifts are historical claims, with several cited medical passages still uncollated.

13526.Edited source passages: p. 174 (DJR-057-02); p. 16 (DJR-024-02); p. 200 (DJR-062-17); p. 76 (DJR-019-19). Existing edition notes: DJR-019:E15, DJR-024:E01, DJR-057:E01, DJR-062:E15. DJR-062:E15 explains that on the other side means on the other hand, not that the liver is on the left. The article retains the historical anatomy and causal account without turning them into a present diagnosis.

13527.Edited source passages: p. 138 (DJR-048-29). Existing edition notes: DJR-048:E23. DJR-048:E23 leaves the Junius passage for collation and records the subject-based placement of a marginal proverb without a clear matching body marker.

13528.Edited source passages: p. 87 (DJR-038-01). The assertion that all physicians agree belongs to Burton’s account. The passage presents solitude as both cause and symptom, then considers its causal role.