Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Parallel Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
English Introduction · Branch 1239 of 1495
Source Record
The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record
p. 1239Scan 655; printed 547; sequence 555; image block134-source-655.png. Complete body and seven margins. Preserve uncertain Hanea and the historical plant names. Collate Plato Laws book 2 against Burton margin book 3. Preserve sexual-discharge claims and dicteria falsa.
Scan 656; printed 548; sequence 556; image block134-source-656.png. Complete body and six margins. Include extended Latin remedy catalogue and start of prescription; retain historical female seed and provisional de Herol. title expansion. Preserve apothecary units; prescription continues onto 657.
Scan 657; printed 549; sequence 557; image block134-source-657.png. Finish prescription and Subsection 1. Include Subsection 2 headings and body through and every Physitian that treats of this subject, with first five margins. Preserve Plautus Sussilite and mihi/misero order, explain door-bolt setting. Four remaining margins and next paragraph Not only to avoid as Gregory Tholosanus exhorts belong to 135.
Opening words: Although it be controverted by some, whether Love Melancholy may be cured
Closing words: and every Physitian that treats of this subject.
Passages DJR-135-01 to DJR-135-56
Source page labels: 549–554 (sequence 557–562). Scan pages: 657, 658, 659, 660, 661, 662.
Scan 657; printed 549; sequence 557; image block135-source-657.png. Begin Not only to avoid as Gregory Tholosanus exhorts, continuing Subsection 2. Include four remaining margins and Lipsius verse. Earlier body, five margins and subsection heading belong to 134. Enlarged detail confirms capita liment.
Scan 658; printed 550; sequence 558; image block135-source-658.png. Complete body and twelve margins. Retain Prosper attribution against differing marginal title, Lucretius and Ovid variants, and separate English verse version. Propertius number is retained and corrected only in editorial note.
Scan 659; printed 551; sequence 559; image block135-source-659.png. Complete body and nine margins. Preserve the reported examples of restraint and separate Lucretius/English couplets. Curtius margin prints andivisset; identify variant without silently repairing it. Preserve unidentified Venus verse.
Scan 660; printed 552; sequence 560; image block135-source-660.png. Complete body and eight margins. Include the travel and separation argument, printed Virgil attribution to Ovid, adapted amatum, Propertius travel verse, unpaired dagger marker and Heinsius noose line. Record uncertain attributions and the historical literary context.
Scan 661; printed 553; sequence 561; image block135-source-661.png. Complete body and five margins. Retain the one-eyed girl anecdote and fabricated accusations in the abbot story; distinguish Burton from the consulted Jerome parallel. Preserve Terence fragments and the catalogue of allegations against the beloved.
Scan 662; printed 554; sequence 562; image block135-source-662.png. Include Gordonius lead-in and Latin remedy, Avicenna and Arculanus through Idem Arculanus cap. 16. in 9. Rhasis, &c. Include first two margins only, g Hypatia and h Savonarola. Enlarged details confirm laboravit, demiserit and Elishi. Stop before Withall as they do discommend the old; eight later margins belong to 136.
Opening words: Not only to avoid as Gregory Tholosanus exhorts
Closing words: Idem Arculanus cap. 16. in 9. Rhasis, &c.
Passages DJR-136-01 to DJR-136-51
Source page labels: 554–558 (sequence 562–566). Scan pages: 662, 663, 664, 665, 666.
Scan 662; printed 554; sequence 562; image block136-source-662.png. Begin Withall as they do discommend the old. Include eight remaining margins, from Virg. Egl. 2 through Mus in cista natus. First two margins, Hypatia and Savonarola, belong to 135. Preserve Latin and separate English formulations.
Scan 663; printed 555; sequence 563; image block136-source-663.png. Complete body and eight margins. Include the cave allegory, changing lovers, Jerome, Pausanias, Ovid, Cicero and the Euryalus example. Two marginal entries around Triton and Galatea have uncertain exact relation; editorial note records this. Checked parallels distinguish Burton’s adaptations.
Scan 664; printed 556; sequence 564; image block136-source-664.png. Complete body and five margins. Original heading SUBSECT. 6. retained; modern heading corrected to Subsection 3 with a note based on running head and sequence. Include counsel, the Terence and Virgil quotations, grief and the teacher maxim. The maxim was not located in the cited Seneca chapter.
Socrates
Reading The Anatomy of Melancholy · Source Record · Source record
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.
- PDF editionComplete annotated edition — PDF
- EPUB editionComplete annotated edition — EPUB
- Word editionComplete annotated edition — Word
- Markdown editionComplete annotated edition — Markdown
- Principal historical witnessMcGill University Library — 1651 edition
- Supplied 1651 openingBavarian State Library — supplied opening
- Independent local comparison witnessIndependent 1651 microfilm — comparison opening