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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 MelancholyDemocritus Junior to the Reader

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1651 English Page · Branch 106 of 1495

Democritus Junior to the Reader

Book Mode

1651 English

70–71

Of Philosophers and Scholars, priscæ sapientiæ dictatores, I have already spoken in general terms, those superintendents of wit and learning, men above men, those refined men, Minions of the Muses, — mentemque habere queis bonam Et esse a corculis datum est. —

These acute & subtil Sophisters, so much honored, have as much need of Hellebor as others. — ô Medici mediam pertundite venam. Reade Lucians Piscator, and tell how he esteemed them; Agrippa’s Tract of the vanity of Sciences; nay read their own works, their absurd tenets, prodigious paradoxes, & risum teneatis amici?

You shall finde that of Aristotle true, nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiæ, they have a worm as well as others; you shall finde a phantastical strain, a fustian, a bumbast, a vainglorious humor, an affected stile, &c. like a prominent thred in an uneven woven cloth, run parallel throughout their works.

And they that teach wisdom, patience, meeknesse, are the veriest dizards, hairbrains, and most discontent. In the multitude of wisdom is grief, and he that encreaseth wisdom, encreaseth sorrow. I need not quote mine author; they that laugh and contemn others, condemn the world of folly, deserve to be mocked, are as giddy-headed, and lie as open as any other.

Democritus that common flouter of folly, was ridiculous himself, barking Menippus, scoffing Lucian, satyrical Lucilius, Petronius, Varro, Persius, &c. may be censured with the rest, Loripedem rectus derideat, Æthiopem albus.

Bale, Erasmus, Hospinian, Vives, Kemnisius, explode as a vast Ocean of Obs and Sols, School divinity, A labyrinth of intricable questions, unprofitable contentions, incredibilem delirationem, one cals it.

If School divinity be so censured, subtilis Scotus lima veritatis, Occam irrefragabilis, cujus ingenium vetera omnia ingenia subvertit, &c. Baconthrope, Dr. Resolutus, and Corculum Theologiæ, Thomas himself, Doctor Seraphicus, cui dictavit Angelus, &c. what shall become of humanity? Ars stulta, what can she plead? what can her followers say for themselves?

Much learning cere-diminuit-brum, hath crackt their skonce, and taken such root, that tribus Anticyris caput insanabile, Hellebor it self can do no good, nor that renowned Lanthorn of Epictetus, by which if any man studied, he should be as wise as he was.

But all wil not serve; Rhetoricians, in ostentationem loquacitatis multa agitant, out of their volubility of tongue, will talk much to no purpose, Orators can perswade other men what they will, quo volunt, unde volunt, move, pacifie, &c. but cannot settle their own brains, what saith Tully? Malo indisertam prudentiam, quam loquacem stultitiam; and as Seneca seconds him, a wise mans Oration should not be polite or solicitous.

1151.Burtonp. 70, t: “F. Dousæ Epid. lib. 1. c. 13.” Editor: Printed abbreviated reference retained; its precise work and passage remain unidentified.

1152.Burtonp. 70, u: “Hoc cognomento cohonestati Romæ, qui cæteros mortales sapientiâ præstarent, testis Plin. lib. 7. cap. 34.” Editor: “At Rome those who surpassed other mortals in wisdom were honoured with this surname; Pliny, book 7, chapter 34, is witness.” Compare Natural History 7.118 on the names Catus and Corculum. Burton’s chapter numbering is retained; corculum suggests a wise or keen mind.

1153.Burtonp. 70, x: “Insanire parant certa ratione modoque, mad by the book they.” Editor: “They prepare to go mad by a fixed method and rule.” Compare Horace, Satires 2.3.271; Burton adapts the saying to scholars.

1154.Burtonp. 70, y: “Juvenal.” Editor: Juvenal, Satire 6.46. Burton reads mediam, “middle,” of the vein, a reading found in older editions; the consulted Latin text has nimiam. The modern translation follows Burton’s reading. The image is bloodletting.

1157.Burtonp. 70, a: “Salomon.” Editor: Solomon. Ecclesiastes 1:18; Burton repeats wisdom where the King James Bible’s second clause has knowledge.

1158.Burtonp. 70, b: “Communis irrisor stultitiæ.” Editor: “The general mocker of folly.” This gloss describes Democritus.

1160.Burtonp. 70, c: “Wit whither wilt?” Editor: An exclamation at intellect wandering without restraint.

1161.Burtonp. 70, d: “Scaliger exercitat. 324.” Editor: Scaliger, Exercises, no. 324; exact passage uncollated.

1162.Burtonp. 70, e: “Vit. ejus.” Editor: “His life,” referring to a biography of Thomas. The particular work is unidentified.

1164.Burtonp. 70, f: “Ennius.” Editor: The body splits cerebrum, “brain,” around diminuit, “diminished” or “broke apart.” Compare the grammatical example saxo cere comminuit brum, traditionally attributed to Ennius. Donatus transmits the split-word example; Burton’s wording and attribution are retained, without treating the attribution as secure.

1165.Burtonp. 70, g: “Lucian. Ter mille drachmis olim empta; studens inde sapientiam adipisceretur.” Editor: “Lucian. Once bought for three thousand drachmas; by studying by it he would acquire wisdom.” The Ignorant Book Collector 13 tells of a purchaser who supposed that reading by Epictetus’s lamp would make him wise. The story satirises that supposition.

1167.Burtonp. 71, h: “Epist. 21. 1. lib. Non oportet orationem sapientis esse politam aut solicitam.” Editor: “A wise person’s speech ought not to be polished or anxiously contrived.” The printed reference is retained. Compare Seneca, Letters 115.2, on over-polished speech; this is a parallel, not a verification of Burton’s exact wording.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Democritus Junior to the Reader

p. 106

I have already spoken in general of philosophers and scholars, those arbiters of ancient wisdom, those overseers of intellect and learning, men above other men, those refined souls, the Muses’ favourites, To whom it has been granted to have good minds And to rank among the wise.

These much-honoured, sharp and subtle disputants need hellebore as much as anyone else. Physicians, open the middle vein! Read Lucian’s Fisherman and see what he thought of them, or Agrippa’s treatise on the vanity of the sciences. Better still, read their own works, their absurd doctrines and monstrous paradoxes: can you keep from laughing, friends?

You will find Aristotle’s saying true: there is no great intellect without an admixture of madness. They have a worm in the head like everyone else. You will find some fanciful streak, inflated rhetoric, bombast, vanity, or affected style running through their works like a raised thread in unevenly woven cloth.

Those who teach wisdom, patience, and meekness are the greatest fools, scatterbrains, and malcontents. In much wisdom there is grief, and whoever increases wisdom increases sorrow. I need not name my authority. Those who laugh at and despise others, condemning the world for its folly, deserve to be mocked themselves: they are as flighty and as open to attack as anyone.

Democritus, that habitual mocker of folly, was himself ridiculous. Barking Menippus, scoffing Lucian, the satirists Lucilius, Petronius, Varro, Persius, and the rest may all be criticised with the others. Let the straight-legged man mock the cripple, and the white man the Ethiopian.

Bale, Erasmus, Hospinian, Vives, and Chemnitz denounce scholastic theology as a vast ocean of objections and solutions, a labyrinth of tangled questions and fruitless disputes; one calls it incredible delirium.

If scholastic theology is judged so harshly—subtle Scotus, the file that sharpens truth; irrefutable Ockham, whose intellect overturned all earlier intellects; Baconthorpe, the Resolute Doctor and keen mind of theology; Thomas himself, the Seraphic Doctor, to whom an angel dictated—what will become of humanistic learning? Foolish art, what can she plead? What can her followers say in their defence?

Much learning has broken their brains apart, cracked their skulls, and taken such deep root that the head cannot be cured by three Anticyras. Hellebore itself can do no good, nor even that celebrated lamp of Epictetus, by whose light anyone who studied was supposed to become as wise as he was.

But none of this will do. Rhetoricians discuss all sorts of things to show off their fluency; their nimble tongues talk at length to no purpose. Orators can persuade others of whatever they please, lead them wherever they wish and from wherever they wish, stir them up, calm them down, and so on; yet they cannot settle their own minds. What does Cicero say? I prefer wisdom without eloquence to eloquent folly. Seneca supports him: a wise person’s speech should not be elaborately polished or anxiously contrived.

1155.Hellebore was associated with purging and the treatment of madness. Burton’s medical imagery here mocks intellectual pretension. Piscator is Lucian’s The Fisherman; “can you keep from laughing, friends?” comes from Horace, The Art of Poetry 5.

1156.The maxim attributed to Aristotle is transmitted by Seneca, On Tranquillity of Mind 17.10. A worm in the head signifies a strain of folly or eccentricity. Fustian and bombast describe inflated writing as well as recalling coarse fabric and stuffing, which lead into Burton’s woven-cloth comparison.

1159.Juvenal, Satire 2.23, uses bodily and racial difference as insulting comparisons in an argument about who has standing to mock another. Burton turns the line against satirists who are themselves vulnerable to censure. Its language is retained rather than converted into a neutral modern proverb.

1163.Obs and Sols abbreviates objections and solutions in scholastic disputation. Humanity here means humanistic learning. The catalogue names Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, John Baconthorpe, and Thomas Aquinas. Burton calls Thomas Seraphicus; the usual distinction is Thomas the Angelic Doctor and Bonaventure the Seraphic Doctor. The printed title is retained.

1166.Burton’s broken Latin word cere-diminuit-brum makes the brain appear split on the page; the modern text conveys the sense, and his following skull image is retained. “A head incurable by three Anticyras” is from Horace, The Art of Poetry 300, invoking the place associated with hellebore. The lamp anecdote continues the satire of mistaking the outward signs of learning for wisdom.

1168.Tully is Marcus Tullius Cicero. Compare De oratore 3.142: if forced to choose, the speaker prefers ineloquent wisdom to eloquent folly, though the larger argument seeks wisdom joined with eloquence. Burton extracts the preference for his satire.

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.