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Robert Burton

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 MelancholyC

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1651 English Page · Branch 1072 of 1495

C

Book Mode

1651 English

unnumbered Table

C

Cardans Father conjured up seven divels at once, 41. had a spirit bound to him 46

Cards and Dice censured, approved 274

Carp fishes nature 68

Cares effects 107

Cataplasmes and Cerots for melanch. 375

Cause of diseases 2

Cause immediate of mel. symptomes. 205

Causes of honest love 420. of heroical love 443. of jealousie 600

Cautions against jealousie 629

Centaury good against melancholy 367

Charls the Great enforced to love basely by a philter 481

Change of countenance, sign of love-melancholy 506

Charity described 424. defects of it 429

Character of a covetous man 114

Charls the sixt King of France mad for anger 105

Chess-play censured 274

Chiromantical signs of melancholy 59

Chirurgical remedies of melancholy 382

Cholerick melancholy signs 192

Chorus sancti Viti a disease 10

Chymical physick censured 387

Circumstances increasing jealousie 602

Cities recreations 274

Civil Lawyers miseries 134

Climes and particular places, how causes of love melancholy 449

Cloaths a meer cause of good respect 156

Cloaths causes of love melancholy 473

Clysters good for melancholy 400

Coffa a Turky cordial drink 392

Clod ayr cause of melancholy 83

Colonies to be sent whither 591

Combats 68

Comets above the Moon 251

Compound Alteratives censured, approved 368. compound purgers of melan. 377. compound Wines for mel. 583

Community of Wives a cure of jealousie 622

Complement and good carriage causes of love melancholy 471

Confections and conserves against mel. 374

Confession of his grief to a friend, a principal cure of melancholy 293

Confidence in his Physitian half a cure 229

Conjugal love best 443

Continual cogitation of his mistress a symptome of love-melancholy 512

Conscience troubled a cause of despair 699

Conscience what it is 29

Contention, brawling, law-suits, effects 169

Continent or inward causes of melan. 172

Cookery taxed 70

Content above all 325, whence to be had ibid.

Contentions cure 357

Costiveness to some a cause of mel. 78

Costiveness helped 401

Correctors of accidents in mel. 394

Correctors to expel windiness and costiveness helped 401

Cordials against melancholy 388

Covetousness defined, described, how it causeth melancholy 114

Councel against melancholy 289. & 556. cure of jealousie 619. of despair 705

Cuckolds common in all ages 616

Countrey recreations 273

Crocodiles jealous 599

Cupids two darts to cause & cure love 175

Cupping glasses, Cauteries how and when used to melancholy 388

Custom of diet, delight of appetite, how to be kept and yeelded to 79

Cure of mel. unlawful rejected 219. from God 222. of head-melanch. 370. over all the body 494. of hypochondriacal melancholy 395. of love melanch. 543 of jealousie 618. of despair 705

Cure of mel. in himself 286. or friends 294

Curiosity described, his effects 166

The Anatomy of Melancholy: C

p. 1072

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Cardan’s father summoned seven devils at once, 41; had a spirit bound to his service, 46.

Cards and dice criticized and approved. 274

The nature of the carp. 68

The effects of worry. 107

Poultices and wax ointments for melancholy. 375

The cause of diseases. 2

The immediate cause of the symptoms of melancholy. 205

Causes of virtuous love, 420; of passionate love, 443; of jealousy, 600.

Precautions against jealousy. 629

Centaury as a remedy for melancholy. 367

Charlemagne compelled by a love potion to love unworthily. 481

A change of expression as a sign of love melancholy. 506

Charity described, 424; failures of charity, 429.

A portrait of a greedy man. 114

Charles VI, king of France, driven mad by anger. 105

Chess criticized. 274

Signs of melancholy found in palm-reading. 59

Surgical remedies for melancholy. 382

Signs of choleric melancholy. 192

St Vitus’s dance, a disease. 10

Chemical medicine criticized. 387

Circumstances that increase jealousy. 602

Recreations in cities. 274

The miseries of civil lawyers. 134

How climates and particular places cause love melancholy. 449

Clothing alone as a reason for being respected. 156

Clothing as a cause of love melancholy. 473

Enemas as a remedy for melancholy. 400

Coffee, a Turkish restorative drink. 392

Cold air as a cause of melancholy. 83

Where colonies should be sent. 591

Combats. 68

Comets above the moon. 251

Compound alterative medicines criticized and approved, 368; compound purges for melancholy, 377; compound medicinal wines for melancholy, 583.

Wives held in common as a cure for jealousy. 622

Polite attentions and graceful conduct as causes of love melancholy. 471

Medicinal confections and preserves against melancholy. 374

Confiding one’s grief to a friend as a principal cure for melancholy. 293

Confidence in one’s physician is half the cure. 229

Married love is best. 443

Continually thinking of one’s beloved as a symptom of love melancholy. 512

A troubled conscience as a cause of despair. 699

What conscience is. 29

The effects of disputes, quarrelling and lawsuits. 169

Underlying or internal causes of melancholy. 172

Cookery criticized. 70

Contentment above all, 325; where to find it, same page.

The cure for quarrelling. 357

Constipation as a cause of melancholy in some people. 78

Constipation relieved. 401

Remedies for accompanying symptoms of melancholy. 394

Remedies to expel wind and relieve constipation. 401

Restorative medicines against melancholy. 388

Greed defined and described; how it causes melancholy. 114

Counsel against melancholy, 289 and 556; to cure jealousy, 619; despair, 705.

Cuckolds common in every age. 616

Country recreations. 273

Jealousy in crocodiles. 599

Cupid’s two arrows, which cause and cure love. 175

How and when cupping glasses and cauteries are used for melancholy. 388

How established eating habits and the preferences of the appetite should be respected and indulged. 79

Cures for melancholy: unlawful ones rejected, 219; those from God, 222. Cures for melancholy of the head, 370; throughout the body, 494; hypochondriacal melancholy, 395; love melancholy, 543; jealousy, 618; despair, 705.

Curing melancholy through one’s own efforts, 286; or through friends, 294.

Curiosity described; its effects. 166

13312.Honest means virtuous or honourable. Heroical love is Burton’s term for intense erotic passion, treated as a form of lovesickness; it does not simply praise such love as heroic.

13313.Choleric and phlegmatic melancholy refer to Burton’s humoral classifications. They should not be read merely as the modern personality descriptions irritable and unemotional.

13314.The Latin means “St Vitus’s dance.” This historical diagnostic label must not be assumed to identify a single modern disorder in every case Burton cites.

13315.Clod is a transposition error for cold. The original misprint is retained on the left; the modern column gives the intended word.

13316.The Table prints 583 for compound wines. The inspected body page 381 (PDF 489; Block 102, passage 36) explicitly lists compound wines of hellebore, sea-onion and senna under Compound Purgers. This verifies the relevant passage; 583 remains in both index columns as printed.

13317.Continent is a technical causal term for a cause residing within, or sustaining, the disorder. It does not mean sexually abstinent here. Accidents in the later entry Correctors of accidents means accompanying symptoms or complications.

13318.The Table prints 175. On inspected printed 575 (PDF 683; Block 140, passage 26), Cupid has a sharp golden dart to cause love and a blunt leaden one to hinder it. This verifies the indexed subject at 575. The original locator 175 remains in both columns.

13319.The source numbers 370 and 494 are retained. They conflict with other headings in this same Table and with the locations of the medical sections. These two references remain unresolved and unlinked; the printed numbers are not silently repaired.

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.

Rights

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.