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 MelancholyTreatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

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Modern English Page · Branch 1067 of 1495

Treatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

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1651 English

723

Let him not be obstinate, head-strong, peevish, wilful, self-conceited (as in this malady they are) but give ear to good advice, be ruled and perswaded;

and no doubt but such good counsel may prove as prosperous to his soul, as the Angel was to Peter, that opened the iron gates, loosed his bands, brought him out of prison and delivered him from bodily thraldome; they may ease his afflicted minde, relieve his wounded soul, and take him out of the jawes of Hell it self.

I can say no more, or give better advice to such as are any way distressed in this kind, then what I have given and said. Only take this for a corollary and conclusion, as thou tendrest thine own welfare in this, and all other melancholy, thy good health of body and mind, observe this short precept, give not way to solitariness and idleness. Be not solitary, be not idle.

SPERATE MISERI, CAVETE FŒLICES.

Vis à dubio liberari? vis quod incertum est evadere? Age pœnitentiam dum sanus es; sic agens, dico tibi quod securus es, quod pœnitentiam egisti eo tempore quo peccare potuisti. Austin.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Treatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

p. 1067

Let him not be obstinate, headstrong, irritable, wilful or convinced of his own judgment—as sufferers from this malady are—but listen to good advice and allow himself to be guided and persuaded;

and surely such good counsel may benefit his soul as the angel benefited Peter, opening the iron gates, loosening his bonds, bringing him out of prison and delivering him from bodily captivity. These advisers may ease his afflicted mind, relieve his wounded soul and rescue him from the very jaws of hell.

I can say no more, or offer better advice to anyone distressed in this way, than I have already given. Only take this as a final inference and conclusion: as you value your own welfare in this and every other kind of melancholy, and your health of body and mind, observe this short precept. Do not give way to solitude and idleness. Do not be solitary; do not be idle.

Have hope, you who are miserable; Be on your guard, you who are fortunate.

Do you wish to be freed from doubt? Do you wish to escape uncertainty? Repent while you are healthy. If you do so, I tell you that you are secure, because you have repented at a time when you could still sin. Augustine.

13298.Self-conceited here emphasizes undue confidence in one’s own judgment. Burton’s generalization about sufferers is retained as part of his exhortation. The direct appeal continues his insistence that distress be shared with capable advisers.

13299.Prosperous means beneficial or successful; thraldome means bondage. Acts 12:7–10 supplies Peter’s release. Burton compresses the narrative, in which the iron gate opens of its own accord, and makes bodily deliverance an image of relief through counsel.

13300.Tendrest means cherish or care for; corollary is a concluding inference. Burton closes the sustained prose argument by returning to companionship and occupation, recurrent concerns of the book. The Latin motto and final quotation follow this closing counsel in the source.

13301.The two balanced imperatives address opposite conditions: misery calls for hope, good fortune for vigilance. Fœlices means the happy or fortunate. The source’s two-line display is preserved; it is a concluding motto, not an added editorial heading.

13302.A close parallel occurs in Sermon 393, De poenitentibus, transmitted among the sermons attributed to Augustine and included under Sermones dubi in the consulted Latin collection. Burton abridges and reshapes it. Dum sanus es contrasts repentance in health with postponement until the final illness; it does not mean merely while sane. His attribution is retained without settling authorship.

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.