The Anatomy of Melancholy

In Burton. Burton tells of a friend who attempted to treat himself with hellebore after finding a recipe in a book. The accidental visit of his familiars prevents the dangerous experiment from proceeding as it otherwise might. Their role is social and practical within the anecdote.

The places. A patient’s familiars happen to visit him. (p. 230; DJR-069-41.)

In this edition. “some of his familiars” → “some of his close friends” (DJR-069-41). Close friends conveys the relationship without bringing in the supernatural sense that the same word can have elsewhere.

See also. Entertain; Gossip.

Fascination

Source forms: fascinate; fascinations

The word. Fascination is bewitchment, especially an influence thought to operate through the eyes. To fascinate in this setting is to cast such a spell, rather than merely to attract someone’s interest.

In Burton. Burton asks why children are supposedly bewitched and reports an explanation in terms of one person’s imagination altering another’s spirits. In the discussion of sleep, a quoted account attributes sleeplessness to fascination. The explanation of the vocabulary must keep the supposed cause attached to the people and authorities who assert it.

The places. Fascination is explained through the supposed action of imagination. (p. 96; DJR-039-31.) Bewitchment is offered as an explanation of sleeplessness. (p. 287; DJR-082-30.)

In this edition. “fascinate and bewitch children” → “cast the evil eye on children and bewitch them” (DJR-039-31); “witches and fascinations” → “witches and enchantments” (DJR-082-30). Cast the evil eye gives the particular ocular sense; enchantments conveys the broader supposed magical action in the sleep passage.

See also. Philter; Lodestone and adamant; Occult; Characters; Ligation and ligature; Catoptrics and perspectives.

Favour and feature

Source forms: feature; favour; out of favour

The word. Favour can mean appearance or looks. Feature can mean bodily form or beauty of form, rather than one facial characteristic. The phrases require attention to whether Burton describes a person’s looks, social standing or loss of beauty.

In Burton. The attendants in the antiquarian story possess excellent feature and sweet voices. The love discussion praises comeliness of person. Charlemagne’s legendary beloved has mean favour and condition: ordinary looks and humble standing. In the rhetoric against beauty’s permanence, growing out of favour means losing beauty, not falling from someone’s patronage.

The places. Excellent feature describes the attendants’ beauty. (p. 304; DJR-086-14.) Comeliness of person is an object of love. (p. 453; DJR-117-15.) Favour and condition distinguish appearance from rank. (p. 501; DJR-126-08.) Out of favour describes the loss of beauty. (p. 561; DJR-137-42.)

In this edition. “most excellent feature” → “exceptional beauty” (DJR-086-14); “comeliness of person” → “good looks” (DJR-117-15); “mean favour and condition” → “ordinary looks and humble standing” (DJR-126-08); “wax out of favour” → “lose so much of her beauty” (DJR-137-42). The translations specify appearance and keep it separate from social position. Burton’s harsh rhetoric about ageing remains attributed to his argument.

See also. Honest.

Fear

Source forms: Fear

The word. Fear is an affection directed towards an anticipated evil. In the selected classification, the temporal distinction separates it from sorrow, which concerns an evil already present.

In Burton. Burton organizes emotions by their objects and by whether those objects are present or absent. Good objects produce joy or longing; bad objects produce sorrow or fear. The same passage describes emotion as bodily action through the heart and the condition of the body, so the classification joins psychological and physiological explanation.