DiotimosReading Desk

Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Parallel Edition

Robert Burton

The Anatomy of Melancholy

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

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The Anatomy of MelancholySource Record

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English Introduction · Branch 1201 of 1495

Source Record

Book Mode

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record

p. 1201

Source record

The principal witness is the sixth edition of 1651 in the McGill University Library copy. Printed labels, sequential positions and scan pages are recorded separately below. The supplied opening and its comparison witnesses are identified first. The Note on the Text explains the editorial treatment; the records here preserve the local documentary locations.

McGill 1651 copy

BSB 1651 supplied opening

Independent 1651 comparison microfilm

The supplied opening

Printed pages 98–99 are absent between base PDF199 and200; repeated96–97 are recorded as printed, not silently renumbered.

Supplied text: “anguish, and vexation” through “sur-”; base resumption: “prized at unawares”.

Supplied witness: 10330491bsb, Archive leaves n191, n192.

Independent comparison: bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_the-anatomy-of-melanchol_burton-robert_1651, Archive leaves n197, n198.

Image identities and SHA256 checksums:

block39-source-197.png: 5356a469d0eda7b9523852c31a9fda797d8036ea1c502bba8977d4f09be30a17

block39-source-198.png: 7945dd1dda7c58e56bf000f608b6a8d90419201b7786c6c090e45d7a413a890a

block40-source-199.png: 3f0f8ecd789be3c6b8c6a1233836ef22b80fc5f2abe15ff87874c332dfa96f10

block40-source-200.png: 3017833fc6e41c9b4d29296ec4a64b8a587d620d054507877c43012dccd21b5f

bsb1651-page191.jpg: 377c22683bc63bf2df9d48a9ebf4db6fdf6d3c9abbd4d64494d4b4c56c5a07cb

bsb1651-page192.jpg: 6394190e1b1a8de1ce2adea6ac929aaf1b0b27678b21823f2e897834d716d98e

alternate1651-page197.jpg: 04bcb08a438cb6b3a5f7a435014f241094f09504290a914c800651795d48afd6

alternate1651-page198.jpg: 1698e3d920e6d418f748ba7e2323885480f19833cdf4dceba9d5d65a97fa1716

Passages DJR-170-01 to DJR-170-57

Source page labels: unnumbered preliminary matter. Scan pages: 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16.

Scan 7; printed unnumbered; image block170-source-007.png. Half-title. Entire printed text included. Show-through excluded.

Scan 8; printed unnumbered; image block170-source-008.png. Entire Argument of the Frontispiece, 84 verse lines, all numbered panels and final address. Source typography and display breaks retained.

Scan 9; printed unnumbered; image block170-source-009.png. Central engraved title, Horatian motto, imprint, date, engraver signature and all ten panel captions transcribed and translated. Facsimile preserves spatial arrangement, image and symbols.

Scan 11; printed unnumbered; image block170-source-011.png. Entire Latin dedication, including DOMINO SUO missed by OCR; set continuously. Source uppercase U/V and I/J conventions mechanically normalized.

Scan 13; printed unnumbered; image block170-source-013.png. Heading, 46 lines of Latin address and its one Latin marginal note. Obscured portions of lines 5–7 collated with later Latin witness. Source ausum retained, intended sense noted.

Scan 14; printed unnumbered; image block170-source-014.png. Remaining 44 lines of Latin address. Running head omitted. Non minus retained literally and interpretive uncertainty recorded.

Scan 15; printed unnumbered; image block170-source-015.png. Greek and English Abstract heading and six eight-line stanzas. Printed walking and places preserved. Modern lie awake explicitly recorded as probable error correction.

Scan 16; printed unnumbered; image block170-source-016.png. Six concluding eight-line stanzas of Abstract. Entire source text before Gentle Reader in Block 001 is now included.

Opening words: THE ANATOMIE OF MELANCHOLY.

Closing words: Naught so damn’d as Melancholy.

Passages DJR-001-01 to DJR-001-11

Source page labels: 1–3. Scan pages: 17, 18, 19.

Passages DJR-002-01 to DJR-002-14

Source page labels: 3–5. Scan pages: 19, 20, 21.

Passages DJR-003-01 to DJR-003-14

Source page labels: 5–6. Scan pages: 21, 22.

Passages DJR-004-01 to DJR-004-15

Source page labels: 6–8. Scan pages: 22, 23, 24.

Passages DJR-005-01 to DJR-005-29

Source page labels: 8–13. Scan pages: 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29.

Passages DJR-006-01 to DJR-006-28

Source page labels: 13–17. Scan pages: 29, 30, 31, 32, 33.

Passages DJR-007-01 to DJR-007-26

Source page labels: 17–22. Scan pages: 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38.

Passages DJR-008-01 to DJR-008-24

Source page labels: 22–26. Scan pages: 38, 39, 40, 41, 42.

Passages DJR-009-01 to DJR-009-30

Source page labels: 27–32. Scan pages: 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48.

Passages DJR-010-01 to DJR-010-29

Source page labels: 32–36. Scan pages: 48, 49, 50, 51, 52.

Passages DJR-011-01 to DJR-011-34

Source page labels: 37–41. Scan pages: 53, 54, 55, 56, 57.

1201

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.