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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 MelancholySubsection 2. Concerning the Patient.

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1651 English Page · Branch 436 of 1495

Subsection 2. Concerning the Patient.

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1651 English

229

Hier. Cappivaccius sets it down as a common fault of all melancholy persons, to say their symptomes are greater then they are, to help themselves. And which Mercurialis notes, consil. 53. to be more troublesome to their Physicians, then other ordinary patients, that they may have change of physick.

A third thing to be required in a Patient, is confidence, to be of good chear, and have sure hope that his Physician can help him. Damascen the Arabian, requires likewise in the Physician himself, that he be confident he can cure him, otherwise his physick will not be effectuall, and promise withall that he will certainly help him, make him beleeve so at least.

Galeottus gives this reason, because the forme of health is contained in the Physicians minde, and as Galen holds, confidence and hope do more good then physick; he cures most in whom most are confident. Axiochus sick almost to death, at the very sight of Socrates recovered his former health. Paracelsus assignes it for an only cause, why Hippocrates was so fortunate in his cures, not for any extraordinary skill he had; but because the common people had a most strong conceipt of his worth.

To this of confidence we may adde perseverance, obedience and constancie, not to change his Physician, or dislike him upon every toy; for he that so doth (saith Ianus Damascen) or consults with many, falls into many errours; or he that useth many medicines. It was a chief caveat of Seneca to his friend Lucilius, that he should not alter his Physician, or prescribed physick: Nothing hinders health more; a wound can never be cured that hath severall plasters.

Crato consil. 186. taxeth all melancholy persons of this fault: ’Tis proper to them, if things fall not out to their minde, and that they have not present ease, to seek another, and another: (as they do commonly that have sore eyes) twenty one after another, and they still promise all to cure them, try a thousand remedies; and by this means they increase their malady, make it most dangerous and difficult to be cured. They try many (saith Montanus) and profit by none:

and for this cause consil. 24. he injoyns his patient before he take him in hand, perseverance and sufferance, for in such a small time no great matter can be effected, and upon that condition he will administer physick, otherwise all his endeavour and counsell would be to small purpose. And in his 31. counsell for a notable Matron, he tells her if she will be cured, she must be of a most abiding patience, faithfull obedience, and singular perseverance; if she remit, or despair, she can expect or hope for no good success.

5083.BurtonPrinted page 229, x: “Consul.173. è Scoltzio. Melanch. Ægrorum hoc fere proprium est, ut graviora dicant esse symptomata, quam revera sunt.” Consultation 173, from Scholtzius, on melancholy: “It is almost characteristic of these patients that they say their symptoms are more severe than they really are.”

5084.BurtonPrinted page 229, y: “Melancholici plerumque medicis sunt molesti, ut alia aliis adjungant.” “Melancholy patients generally trouble their physicians to add one remedy to another.”

5085.BurtonPrinted page 229, z: “Oportet infirmo imprimere salutem, utcunque promittere, etsi ipse desperet. Nullum medicamentum efficax, nisi medicus etiam fuerit fortis imaginationis.” “One must impress the prospect of recovery on the sick person and promise it by any means, even if one despairs oneself. No medicine is effective unless the physician also has a powerful imagination.”

5087.BurtonPrinted page 229, a: “De promisc. doct. cap.15. Quoniam sanitatis formam animi medici continent.” On Miscellaneous Learning, chapter 15: “Because physicians’ minds contain the form of health.”

5088.BurtonPrinted page 229, b: “Spes & confidentia, plus valent quam medicina.” “Hope and confidence are more powerful than medicine.”

5089.BurtonPrinted page 229, c: “Felicior in medicina ob fidem Ethnicorum.” “More successful in medicine because of the pagans’ faith.”

5092.BurtonPrinted page 229, d: “Aphoris.89. Æger qui plurimos consulit medicos, plerumque in errorem singulorum cadit.” Aphorism 89: “The patient who consults very many physicians generally falls into the error of each of them.”

5093.BurtonPrinted page 229, e: “Nihil ita sanitatem impedit, ac remediorum crebra mutatio, nec venit vulnus ad cicatricem in quo diversa medicamenta tentantur.” “Nothing hinders health so much as frequent changes of remedies, nor does a wound heal over when different medicines are tried upon it.”

5095.BurtonPrinted page 229, f; continues across the foot of the page: “Melancholicorum proprium, quum ex eorum arbitrio non fit subita mutatio in melius, alterare medicos qui quidvis, &c.” “It is characteristic of melancholy patients, when a sudden improvement does not occur as they wish, to change physicians, who [promise] anything,” etc. The elliptical conclusion is retained; the supplied verb follows Burton’s body text.

5096.BurtonPrinted page 229, g: “Consil.31. Dum ad varia se conferunt, nullo prosunt.” Consultation 31: “While they turn to various remedies, they benefit from none.” The source’s nullo is retained.

5098.BurtonPrinted page 229, h: “Imprimis hoc statuere oportet, requiri perseverantiam, & tolerantiam. Exiguo enim tempore nihil ex, &c.” “First this must be established: perseverance and endurance are required. For in a short time nothing [can be accomplished],” etc. The unfinished ex is preserved; the sense is supplied from the body.

5099.BurtonPrinted page 229, i: “Si curari vult, opus est pertinaci perseverantia, fideli obedientia, & patientia singulari, si tædet aut desperet, nullum habebit effectum.” “If she wishes to be cured, steadfast perseverance, faithful obedience and exceptional patience are needed; if she grows weary or despairs, she will obtain no result.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 2. Concerning the Patient.

p. 436

Hieronymus Cappivaccius records it as a common fault of all melancholy people that, to obtain help, they say their symptoms are worse than they are. Mercurialis likewise observes, in consultation 53, that they are more troublesome to their physicians than ordinary patients, so that they may get a change of medicine.

A third requirement in a patient is confidence: he should be cheerful and firmly hope that his physician can help him. Damascen the Arabian likewise requires the physician himself to be confident that he can cure the patient; otherwise his medicine will not work. He should also promise that he will certainly help him—or at least make him believe so.

Galeottus gives this reason: the form of health is contained in the physician's mind. And, as Galen maintains, confidence and hope do more good than medicine: the physician who inspires most confidence cures most. Axiochus, almost sick to death, recovered his former health at the mere sight of Socrates. Paracelsus gives this as the sole reason why Hippocrates was so successful in his cures: it was not because he had any extraordinary skill, but because ordinary people had an exceptionally high opinion of his ability.

To confidence we may add perseverance, obedience and constancy: the patient should not change his physician or take a dislike to him over every trifle. For anyone who does so, says Janus Damascen, or who consults many physicians, falls into many errors; so does anyone who uses many medicines. One of Seneca's chief warnings to his friend Lucilius was that he should not change his physician or prescribed medicine: nothing hinders health more; a wound can never heal when one plaster after another is applied to it.

Crato, in consultation 186, accuses all melancholy people of this fault. It is characteristic of them, if things do not go as they wish and they get no immediate relief, to seek another physician and then another—as people with sore eyes commonly do—twenty in succession. All keep promising a cure; the patients try a thousand remedies, and in this way worsen their disease, making it extremely dangerous and difficult to cure. They try many, says Montanus, and benefit from none.

For this reason, in consultation 24, before taking on his patient, he requires perseverance and endurance: no great result can be achieved in so short a time. He will administer medicine on that condition; otherwise all his effort and advice would be of little use. In his thirty-first consultation, for a distinguished married woman, he tells her that if she wishes to be cured, she must show the most lasting patience, faithful obedience and exceptional perseverance. If she slackens or despairs, she can expect or hope for no good result.

5086.Burton reports a medical ethic in which confidence can include reassuring a patient even when the physician privately despairs. “Damascen” and “Janus Damascen” are retained as his names for the authority cited; the particular aphorism collection and its attribution await collation.

5090.Compare Axiochus 364c–365a, transmitted in the Platonic corpus: Clinias predicts that seeing Socrates will help his father rally, and Socrates finds the man already physically improved but still distressed. Burton compresses this into a recovery at the sight of Socrates. The dialogue is conventionally classed as Pseudo-Plato.

5091.The “form of health” means its conception or pattern in the physician’s mind. Burton groups this claim with hope, reputation and imagination; it should not be read as a demonstrated account of how treatment works. The Galeottus, Galen and Paracelsus attributions are not independently collated here.

5094.Seneca, Moral Letters 2.3. In its original setting the medical comparison supports steady, sustained reading instead of constantly changing authors. Burton presents it as advice about physicians and medicine. His marginal quotation differs slightly from the comparison text but preserves the same argument.

5097.“Twenty one after another” is read as twenty physicians, one after another, rather than the exact number twenty-one. This preserves the idiom and the following emphasis on repeated changes; the original spacing is retained on the left.

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.