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. Diet Corrected in Quantity.

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Modern English Page · Branch 445 of 1495

Subsection 2. Diet Corrected in Quantity.

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1651 English

236–237

It much availes likewise to keep good order in our diet, to eat liquid things first, broaths, fish, and such meats as are sooner corrupted in the stomack; harder meats of digestion must come last. Crato would have the supper less than dinner, which Cardan contradict. lib.1. Tract.5. contradict.18. disallowes, and that by the authority of Galen 7. art. curat. cap.6. and for four reasons he will have the supper biggest:

I have read many treatises to this purpose, I know not how it may concern some few sick men, but for my part generally for all, I should subscribe to that custome of the Romans, to make a sparing dinner, and a liberall supper; all their preparation and invitation was still at supper, no mention of dinner. Many reasons I could give, but when all is said pro and con, Cardans rule is best, to keep that we are accustomed unto, though it be naught, and to follow our disposition and appetite in some things is not amiss; to eat sometimes of a dish which is hurtfull, if we have an extraordinary liking to it.

Alexander Severus loved Hares and Apples above all other meats, as Lampridius relates in his life: one Pope Pork, another Peacock, &c. what harme came of it? I conclude, our own experience is the best Physician; that diet which is most propitious to one, is often pernicious to another, such is the variety of palats, humours, and temperatures, let every man observe, and be a law unto himself.

Tiberius in Tacitus did laugh at all such, that after 30. years of age would ask counsell of others concerning matters of diet, I say the same.

These few rules of diet he that keeps, shall surely finde great ease and speedy remedy by it. It is a wonder to relate that prodigious temperance of some Hermites, Anachorites, and fathers of the Church; he that shall but read their lives, written by Hierome, Athanasius, &c. how abstemious Heathens have bin in this kind, those Curii and Fabritii, those old Philosophers, as Pliny records lib.11. Xenephon lib.1. de vit. Socrat. Emperours and Kings, as Nicephorus relates, Eccles. hist. lib.18. cap.8. of Mauritius, Lodovicus Pius, &c. and that admirable example of Lodovicus Cornarus, a Patrician of Venice, cannot but admire them.

This have they done voluntarily, and in health; what shall these private men do that are visited with sickness, and necessarily injoyned to recover, and continue their health? It is a hard thing to observe a strict diet, & qui medicè vivit, miserè vivit, as the saying is, quale hoc ipsum erit vivere, his si privatus fueris? as good be buried, as so much debarred of his appetite; excessit medicina malum, the physick is more troublesome then the disease, so he complained in the Poet, so thou thinkest:

yet he that loves himself, will easily endure this little misery, to avoid a greater inconvenience; è malis minimum, better do this then do worse. And as Tully holds, better be a temperate old man, then a lascivious youth. ’Tis the onely sweet thing, (which he adviseth) so to moderate ourselves, that we may have senectutem in juventute, & in juventute senectutem, Be youthfull in our old age, staid in our youth, discreet and temperate in both.

5220.BurtonPrinted page 236, margin z: “Crato. Multum refert non ignorare qui cibi priores, &c. liquida præcedant carnium jura, pisces, fructus, &c. Cœna brevior sit prandio.” Crato: “It matters greatly to know which foods should come first,” and so on. “Let liquid foods precede: meat broths, fish, fruit,” and so on. “Let supper be smaller than dinner.” The list’s compressed syntax is retained.

5222.BurtonPrinted page 236, margin a: “Tract.6. contradict.1. lib.1.” Treatise 6, contradiction 1, book 1.

5223.BurtonPrinted page 236, margin b: “Super omnia quotidianum leporem habuit, & pomis indulsit.” “Above all, he had a hare every day, and indulged in fruit.”

5225.BurtonPrinted page 236, asterisk: “Annal.6. Ridere solebat eos, qui post 30. ætatis annum, ad cognoscenda corpori suo noxia vel utilia, alicujus consilii indigerent.” Annals, book 6: “He used to laugh at those who, after their thirtieth year, needed someone else’s advice to recognize what was harmful or beneficial to their own body.”

5227.BurtonPrinted page 237, first dagger: “A Lessio edit.1614.” “Published by Lessius, 1614.”

5229.BurtonPrinted page 237, margin c: “Ægyptii olim omnes morbos curabant vomitu & jejunio. Bohemus lib.1. cap.5.” “The Egyptians formerly treated all diseases by vomiting and fasting.” Boemus, book 1, chapter 5.

5231.BurtonPrinted page 237, second dagger: “Cat. Major: Melior conditio senis viventis ex præscripto artis medicæ, quam adolescentis luxuriosi.” Cato the Elder: “The condition of an old man living according to medical prescriptions is better than that of a dissolute young man.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 2. Diet Corrected in Quantity.

p. 445

It also helps greatly to keep our food in the proper order: to eat liquid foods first, broths, fish and foods that spoil sooner in the stomach; foods harder to digest must come last. Crato would have supper smaller than dinner. Cardan, Contradictions, book 1, treatise 5, contradiction 18, rejects this on the authority of Galen, book 7 of the Art of Healing, chapter 6, and gives four reasons for making supper the larger meal.

I have read many treatises on this subject. I do not know how it may apply to a few particular patients, but for my own part, as a general rule for everyone, I would support the Roman custom of a light dinner and a generous supper. Their preparations and invitations were always for supper; dinner went unmentioned. I could give many reasons, but when everything has been said for and against, Cardan's rule is best: to keep to what we are accustomed to, even if it is bad. Nor is it wrong in some things to follow our inclination and appetite, and occasionally eat a harmful dish if we have an exceptional liking for it.

Alexander Severus loved hares and apples above all other foods, as Lampridius relates in his life; one pope loved pork, another peacock, and so on. What harm came of it? I conclude that our own experience is the best physician. The diet most beneficial to one person is often harmful to another, so different are our tastes, humours and constitutions. Let everyone observe himself and be a law to himself.

Tiberius, in Tacitus, laughed at everyone who, after the age of thirty, would ask other people's advice about diet. I say the same.

Anyone who keeps these few rules of diet will surely find great relief and a speedy remedy. It is astonishing to recount the extraordinary temperance of some hermits, anchorites and Fathers of the Church. Anyone who reads their lives, written by Jerome, Athanasius and others; how abstemious pagans have been in this respect—the Curii and Fabricii, those ancient philosophers, as Pliny records in book 11, and Xenophon in book 1 of his life of Socrates; emperors and kings, as Nicephorus relates in his Ecclesiastical History, book 18, chapter 8, concerning Maurice, Louis the Pious and others; and the admirable example of Luigi Cornaro, a Venetian patrician—cannot help admiring them.

They did this voluntarily, while in good health. What, then, should ordinary people do when illness visits them and they are obliged to recover and preserve their health? It is hard to follow a strict diet, and “he who lives by medical rules lives miserably,” as the saying goes. “What sort of life will it be, if you are deprived of these things?” One might as well be buried as have one's appetite so restricted. “The remedy has exceeded the disease”—the treatment is more troublesome than the illness: so he complained in the poet, and so you think.

Yet anyone who loves himself will readily endure this little misery to avoid a greater trouble: “the least of evils”; better do this than fare worse. And, as Cicero maintains, better be a temperate old man than a dissolute youth. The one sweet course, as he advises, is to govern ourselves so that we may have “old age in youth, and in youth old age”: be youthful in our old age, steady in our youth, prudent and temperate in both.

5221.The proposed order of foods rests on historical theories of digestion and putrefaction. Burton then records disagreement over the relative size of meals instead of presenting a unanimous medical rule.

5224.Historia Augusta, Alexander Severus 37.7 and 37.10, mentions a daily hare and a fondness for fruit. Latin pomis is broader than Burton’s apples. Temperatures means bodily constitutions, not thermometer readings. The unnamed popes are unresolved.

5226.Tacitus, Annals 6.46, concerns knowing what benefits or harms one’s own body, more broadly than Burton’s diet. The passage also says that the ailing Tiberius did not abandon his indulgences; Burton uses the remark as practical advice.

5228.Anchorites are religious recluses. The Curii and Fabricii evoke Roman examples of frugality. Cornarus is Luigi Cornaro; the margin points to an edition associated with Lessius in 1614. Burton’s sequence of pagan, Christian and princely examples is retained; several locators remain unresolved.

5230.The sayings voice the imagined patient’s resistance to restriction. The Latin quotations are translated independently, followed by Burton’s English expansions. Compare Lucan, Civil War 2.142, excessit medicina modum, “the remedy exceeded measure,” on Sulla’s violence. Burton’s malum differs; a direct borrowing is probable, not certain. The source of quale hoc ipsum remains unresolved.

5232.The 1651 Latin repeats “old age in youth” in both halves. Its repetition is preserved, followed by Burton’s contrasting English explanation. Cicero, On Old Age 11.38, commends an element of age in youth and of youth in age; the separate marginal maxim has not been located verbatim.

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.

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