The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

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The Anatomy of MelancholyDemocritus Junior to the Reader

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1651 English Page · Branch 101 of 1495

Democritus Junior to the Reader

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1651 English

I hate all hereditary slaves, and that duram Persarum legem, as Brisonius cals it; or as Ammianus, impendio formidatas & abominandas leges, per quas ob noxam unius, omnis propinquitas perit, hard law that wife and children, friends and allies should suffer for the fathers offence.

No man shall marry until he be 25. no woman till she be 20. nisi aliter dispensatum fuerit. If one die, the other party shall not marry till six months after;

and because many families are compelled to live niggardly, exhaust and undone by great dowers, none shal be given at all, or very little, and that by supervisors rated, they that are foul shal have a greater portion; if fair, none at all, or very little: howsoever not to exceed such a rate as those supervisors shal think fit.

And when once they come to those years, poverty shall hinder no man from marriage, or any other respect, but all shall be rather inforced then hindered, except they be dismembred, or grievously deformed, infirm, or visited with some enormous hereditary disease, in body or mind; in such cases upon a great pain, or mulct, man or woman shall not marry, other order shall be taken for them to their content. If people overabound, they shall be eased by Colonies.

No man shall wear weapons in any City. The same attire shall be kept, and that proper to several callings, by which they shall be distinguished. Luxus funerum shall be taken away, that intempestive expense moderated, and many others.

Brokers, takers of pawns, biting usurers, I will not admit; yet because hic cum hominibus non cum diis agitur, we converse here with men, not with gods, and for the hardnesse of mens hearts I will tolerate some kinde of usury. If we were honest, I confesse, si probi essemus, we should have no use of it, but being as it is, we must necessarily admit it.

1087.Burtonp. 66, u: “Lib. 2. de reg. Persarum.” Editor: Brisson, on the Persian kingdom, book 2; exact passage uncollated.

1088.Burtonp. 66, x: “Lib. 24.” Editor: The passage is Ammianus Marcellinus 23.6.81, in the description of Persian laws. Burton compresses its account of terrifying laws and laws under which an offender’s entire kinship group perishes. His printed book number 24 is retained.

1089.Burtonp. 66, y: “Aliter Aristoteles, a man at 25. a woman at 20. polit.” Editor: Aliter means “otherwise.” The printed ages match Burton’s body text, despite that opening word. Aristotle, Politics 7.16, instead recommends about eighteen for women and thirty-seven for men. The discrepancy is retained.

1090.Burtonp. 66, z: “Lex olim Licurgi, hodie Chinensium; vide Plutarchum, Riccium, Hemmingium, Arnisæum, Nevisanum, & alios de hac quæstione.” Editor: “Formerly the law of Lycurgus, today that of the Chinese; see Plutarch, Ricci, Hemmingius, Arnisaeus, Nevizanus, and others on this question.” The authorities and exact scope of the comparison remain uncollated.

1091.Burtonp. 66, a: “Alfredus.” Editor: Alfred; exact legal source uncollated.

1092.Burtonp. 66, b: “Apud Lacones olim virgines sine dote nubebant. Boter. l. 3. c. 3.” Editor: “Among the Spartans, maidens formerly married without dowries. Botero, book 3, chapter 3.” Exact passage uncollated.

1093.Burtonp. 66, c: “Lege cautum non ita pridem apud Venetes, ne quis Patritius dotem excederet 1500 coron.” Editor: “Not long ago the Venetians provided by law that no patrician should exceed a dowry of 1,500 crowns.” Burton’s historical claim has not been independently established.

1095.Burtonp. 66, d: “Bux. Synag. Iud. Sic Iudæi. Leo Afer Africæ descript. ne sint aliter incontinentes ob reipub. bonum. Ut August. Cæsar. orat. ad cœlibes Romanos olim edocuit.” Editor: “Buxtorf, Jewish Synagogue. So the Jews. Leo Africanus, Description of Africa: lest they otherwise be unchaste, for the commonwealth’s good, as Augustus Caesar once taught in his address to unmarried Romans.” Exact passages uncollated; the generalisations are Burton’s.

1096.Burtonp. 66, e: “Morbo laborans, qui in prolem facile diffunditur, ne genus humanum fœda contagione lædatur, juventute castratur; mulieres tales procul a consortio virorum ablegantur, &c. Hector Boethius hist. lib. 1. de vet. Scotorum moribus.” Editor: “A person suffering from a disease easily transmitted to offspring is castrated in youth, lest humankind be harmed by foul infection; women of that kind are banished far from the company of men, etc. Hector Boece, History, book 1, on the ancient customs of the Scots.” Burton’s cited account, not an independently established description.

1097.Burtonp. 66, f: “Speciosissimi juvenes liberis dabunt operam. Plato 5. de legibus.” Editor: “The handsomest young men shall devote themselves to producing children. Plato, Laws, book 5.” Printed attribution retained; exact passage uncollated.

1098.Burtonp. 66, g: “The Saxons exclude dumb, blinde, leprous, and such like persons from all inheritance, as we do fools.” Editor: The historical legal comparison is retained but remains uncollated. Fools here is an old legal and social designation associated with intellectual incapacity.

1099.Burtonp. 66, h: “Ut olim Romani, Hispani hodie, &c.” Editor: “As formerly the Romans, and today the Spaniards, etc.” The comparison concerns colonies as an outlet for population.

1101.Burtonp. 66, i: “Riccius lib. 11. cap. 5. de Sinarum. expedit. sic Hispani cogunt Mauros arma deponere. So it is in most Italian cities.” Editor: “Ricci, Expedition into China, book 11, chapter 5, as printed; so the Spaniards compel the Moors to lay down their weapons.” Printed book number, exact passage, and comparisons uncollated.

1102.Burtonp. 66, k: “Idem Plato 12. de legibus, it hath ever been immoderate vide Guil. Stuckium antiq. convival. lib. 1. cap. 26.” Editor: “Likewise Plato, Laws, book 12; see Wilhelm Stucki, Antiquities of Feasting, book 1, chapter 26.” Exact passages uncollated.

1103.Burtonp. 66, l: “Plato 9. de legibus.” Editor: “Plato, Laws, book 9.” No clear l anchor is visible in the body. The note is provisionally attached to the discussion of lending at interest; its placement and printed book number require collation.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Democritus Junior to the Reader

p. 101

I detest all hereditary slavery, and that harsh law of the Persians, as Brisson calls it; or, in Ammianus’s words, those exceedingly terrible and abominable laws by which an entire family perishes for one person’s offence: the harsh law that makes a wife and children, friends and relations suffer for the father’s crime.

No man shall marry before twenty-five, and no woman before twenty, unless special permission is given. If one spouse dies, the other shall not remarry for six months;

and because large dowries exhaust and ruin many families, forcing them to live parsimoniously, no dowries shall be given, or only small ones assessed by appointed supervisors. Women who are unattractive shall have larger portions; those who are beautiful shall have none, or very little. In every case the amount shall stay within the limit the supervisors consider appropriate.

Once they reach those ages, poverty or any other consideration shall prevent no one from marrying; everyone shall be compelled rather than obstructed. The exceptions are those who have lost limbs, are severely deformed or infirm, or have some grave hereditary disease of body or mind. In such cases neither man nor woman shall marry, on pain of a heavy punishment or fine; other arrangements shall be made to their satisfaction. If the population grows too large, colonies shall relieve it.

No one shall carry weapons in any city. People shall retain a fixed form of dress appropriate to their different occupations, so that these can be distinguished. Extravagance at funerals shall be abolished, that ill-timed expense restrained, along with many others.

I will admit no brokers, pawnbrokers, or extortionate moneylenders. Yet because we are dealing here with human beings, not gods—we have to do with men, not gods—and because people’s hearts are hard, I will tolerate some lending at interest. If we were honest, I confess, if we were upright people, we should have no need of it; but as things stand, we must necessarily allow it.

About This Reading Edition

Robert Burton’s Anatomy ranges across medicine, philosophy, poetry, religion, and everyday life in its inquiry into melancholy. This complete parallel edition pairs the 1651 English text with a close modern English rendering, preserving the three Partitions, Democritus Junior’s address to the reader, verse, and the historical index.

Historical Text and Translation

The historical text follows the sixth edition, printed at Oxford for Henry Cripps in 1651, using the McGill University Library copy. The supplied edition documents missing printed pages 98–99 supplied from another 1651 copy at the Bavarian State Library. Historical folio labels and their irregularities remain visible; web reader numbers identify reflowed passages and do not claim to reproduce PDF pagination.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared the close modern English rendering and editorial matter. All 8,755 original and modern passage pairs remain aligned, with verse breaks, italics, continuations, and linked annotations preserved. Burton’s 6,781 historical notes retain their attribution; 6,895 editorial notes remain distinct. The introduction, Note on the Text, contextual lexicon, indexes, source documentation, and bibliography are included. The engraved frontispiece remains available in the original downloads.

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Burton’s historical text is in the public domain. The modern English rendering, introduction, notes, and editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and appear with the site owner’s permission. The complete supplied PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown files remain available unchanged. The PDF and Word edition preserve the original parallel page layout.