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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 MelancholyMember 2 Bodily Deformity, Sickness, Low Birth, and Particular Discontents

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Modern English Page · Branch 549 of 1495

Member 2 Bodily Deformity, Sickness, Low Birth, and Particular Discontents

Book Mode

1651 English

317–318

A most memorable observation, Scaliger accompts it, & non prætereundum, maximorum virorum plerosque, patres ignoratos, matres impudicas fuisse. I could recite a great catalogue of them, every kingdome, every province will yeeld innumerable examples: and why then should baseness of birth be objected to any man?

who thinks worse of Tully for being Arpinas, an upstart? Or Agathocles that Sicilian king for being a potters son? Iphicrates and Marius were meanly born. What wise man thinks better of any person for his nobility? as he said in Machiavel, omnes eodem patre nati, Adams sons, conceived all and born in sin, &c. We are by nature all as one, all alike, if you see us naked; let us wear theirs and they our clothes, and what’s the difference?

To speak truth as Bale did of P. Schalichius, I more esteem thy worth, learning, honesty, then thy nobility; honour thee more that thou art a writer, a Doctor of divinity, then Earl of the Hunnes, Baron of Skradine, or hast title to such and such provinces, &c.

Thou art more fortunate and great (so Jovius writes to Cosmus Medices then Duke of Florence) for thy vertues, then for thy lovely wife, and happy children, friends, fortunes, or great dutchy of Tuscany. So I accompt thee; and who doth not so indeed? Abdolominus was a gardner, and yet by Alexander for his vertues, made king of Syria.

How much better is it to be born of mean parentage, & to excell in worth, to be morally noble, which is preferred before that naturall nobility, by divines, philosophers, and politicians, to be learned, honest, discreet, well qualified, to be fit for any manner of imploiment, in country and common-wealth, war and peace, then to be Degeneres Neoptolemi, as many brave nobles are, only wise because rich, otherwise idiots, illiterate, unfit for any manner of service?

Udalricus Earl of Cilia upbraided John Huniades with the baseness of his birth, but he replied, in te Ciliensis Comitatus turpiter extinguitur, in me gloriose Bistricensis exoritur, thine Earldome is consumed with riot, mine begins with honor and renown.

Thou hast had so many noble ancestors; what is that to thee? Vix ea nostra voco, when thou art a disard thy self: quod prodest Pontice longo stemmate censeri? &c.

I conclude, hast thou a sound body, and a good soul, good bringing up? art thou vertuous, honest, learned, well qualified, religious, are thy conditions good? thou art a true nobleman, perfectly noble, although born of Thersites, —— dum modo tu sis —— Æacidæ similis, non natus, sed factus, noble κατ’ ἐξοχήν; for neither sword, nor fire, nor water, nor sickness, nor outward violence, nor the divel himself can take thy good parts from thee.

6567.BurtonPrinted page 317, asterisk: “Exercit. 265.” Scaliger, Exercises 265.

6569.BurtonPrinted page 317, dagger: “Flor. hist. l. 3. Quod si nudos nos conspici contingat, omnium una eademque erit facies; nam si ipsi nostras, nos eorum vestes induamus, nos, &c.” Florentine History, book 3: if we happen to be seen naked, everyone will look alike; for if they put on our clothes and we theirs, we, etc. The quotation breaks off as printed.

6571.BurtonPrinted page 317, asterisk: “Ut merito dicam, quod simpliciter sentiam, Paulum Schalichium scriptorem, & doctorem, pluris facio quam Comitem Hunnorum, & Baronem Skradinum; Encyclopædiam tuam, & orbem disciplinarum omnibus provinciis antefero. Balæus epist. nuncupat. ad 5. cent. ultimam script. Brit.” To say with reason what I frankly think: I value Paul Schalichius the writer and doctor more than the Count of the Huns and Baron of Skradin; I prefer your Encyclopaedia and the whole circle of disciplines to all provinces. Bale, dedicatory letter to the fifth and last century of British writers. The note continues across the foot of the page.

6573.BurtonPrinted page 317, dagger: “Præfat. hist. lib. 1. virtute tua major, quam aut Hetrusci imperii fortuna, aut numerosa & decora prolis fœlicitate beatior evadas.” Preface to History, book 1: may you become greater through your virtue, and happier than through either the fortune of Tuscan rule or the happiness of a numerous and distinguished offspring.

6574.BurtonPrinted page 317, dagger: “Curtius.” Quintus Curtius Rufus; compare History of Alexander 4.1.15–26.

6576.BurtonPrinted page 317, dagger: “Bodine de rep. lib. 3. cap. 8.” Jean Bodin, On the Commonwealth, book 3, chapter 8.

6578.BurtonPrinted page 317, dagger: “Æneas Silvius. lib. 2. cap. 29.” Aeneas Sylvius, book 2, chapter 29; the work is not specified here.

6580.BurtonPrinted page 318, g: “If children be proud, haughty, foolish, they defile the nobility of their kindred, Eccl. 22.8.” If children are proud, haughty, and foolish, they disgrace the nobility of their family. Ecclesiasticus 22:8, as printed; compare 22:10 in the King James Version.

6582.BurtonPrinted page 318, dagger: “Cujus possessio nec furto eripi, nec incendio absumi, nec aquarum voragine absorberi, vel vi morbi destrui potest.” Possession of it cannot be snatched away by theft, consumed by fire, swallowed by a whirlpool, or destroyed by the force of disease.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Member 2 Bodily Deformity, Sickness, Low Birth, and Particular Discontents

p. 549

Scaliger considers it a most memorable observation: “Nor should we pass over the fact that most of the greatest men had unknown fathers and unchaste mothers.” I could list a vast catalogue of them: every kingdom, every province will supply countless examples. Why, then, should anyone have his low birth held against him?

Who thinks worse of Cicero for being a man from Arpinum, an upstart? Or of Agathocles, that Sicilian king, for being a potter’s son? Iphicrates and Marius were of humble birth. What wise man thinks better of anyone because of his noble ancestry? As the speaker in Machiavelli said, “All born of the same father”: sons of Adam, all conceived and born in sin, and so on. By nature we are all one, all alike, if you see us naked. Let us wear their clothes and them ours, and what is the difference?

To speak the truth, as Bale did of P. Schalichius: I value your merit, learning, and integrity more than your nobility. I honour you more for being a writer and a doctor of divinity than for being Earl of the Huns, Baron of Skradine, or having a claim to this or that province, and so on.

You are more fortunate and greater for your virtues, so Giovio writes to Cosimo de’ Medici, then Duke of Florence, than for your lovely wife and fortunate children, your friends, your wealth, or your great duchy of Tuscany. That is how I judge you; and who, indeed, does not? Abdolominus was a gardener, yet Alexander made him king of Syria for his virtues.

How much better to be born of humble parents and excel in merit: to be morally noble, which theologians, philosophers, and political writers prefer to nobility by birth; to be learned, honest, judicious, and capable, fit for any employment in one’s country and commonwealth, in war and peace; than to be “degenerate Neoptolemuses,” as so many splendid nobles are, accounted wise only because they are rich, but otherwise fools, illiterate, and unfit for any service?

Ulrich, Earl of Cilia, reproached John Hunyadi with his low birth, but Hunyadi replied, “In you the earldom of Cilia dies shamefully; in me that of Bistritz rises gloriously”: your earldom is consumed by dissipation; mine begins with honour and renown.

You have had so many noble ancestors: what is that to you? “I can scarcely call those things our own,” when you yourself are a fool. “What good is it, Ponticus, to be reckoned by a long pedigree?” And so on.

I conclude: have you a sound body and a good soul, a good upbringing? Are you virtuous, honest, learned, capable, religious, and of good character? Then you are a true nobleman, perfectly noble, though born of Thersites, “provided that you yourself resemble the descendant of Aeacus”: not born noble, but made so, noble in the fullest sense. For neither sword, fire, water, sickness, outward violence, nor the devil himself can take your good qualities from you.

6568.The transition from the Latin statement to “I could recite” is not clearly delimited in the print. The preceding Machiavelli marginal note itself ends with an equivalent claim about an endless catalogue. Scaliger’s Exercises 265 remains to be collated before attributing each clause more precisely.

6570.Tully is Marcus Tullius Cicero; Arpinas means a man of Arpinum. Burton resumes his catalogue of humble origins. The equality-and-clothing argument occurs in the unnamed insurgent’s speech in Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories 3.13; it is a character’s speech, not an unqualified statement of the historian’s own position.

6572.John Bale’s praise contrasts Paul Schalichius’s learning with his claimed titles. Both the titles and the abbreviated bibliographical reference are retained pending collation. “Honesty” means integrity; “century” in the margin denotes a group of a hundred writers, not a hundred years.

6575.Jovius is Paolo Giovio; Cosmus Medices is Cosimo de’ Medici. Burton’s formulation of the Tuscan title remains as printed. Curtius 4.1.15–26 tells of Abdalonymus’s appointment at Sidon and also gives him royal ancestry, a qualification omitted here. Burton prints Abdolominus and calls his kingdom Syria.

6577.Neoptolemus is a heroic name used here as an ironic type of the unworthy heir. “Brave” means splendid or showy, not necessarily courageous; “politicians” means writers on government. Moral nobility denotes worth acquired through character and conduct.

6579.The reply contrasts inherited rank brought to a disgraceful end with a new earldom founded honourably. Cilia and Bistricensis are rendered Cilia and Bistritz; the exact source and historical circumstances of the Hunyadi anecdote remain to be collated. Burton’s Latin and separate English gloss are both retained.

6581.“Disard” means fool. Vix ea nostra voco comes from Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.140–141, where ancestry and deeds not done by oneself scarcely count as one’s own. The question adapts Juvenal 8.1–2: Burton prints quod and stemmate where the consulted text has quid and sanguine.

6583.The Thersites comparison adapts Juvenal 8.269–271: better a contemptible father and an Achilles-like son than the reverse. The descendant of Aeacus is Achilles. The Greek means pre-eminently or in the fullest sense. “Conditions” means character; Burton’s claim that inner worth cannot be lost is consolatory argument.

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.