Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Parallel Edition
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English Introduction · Branch 1227 of 1495
Source Record
The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record
p. 1227Scan 536; printed 428; sequence 436; image block111-source-536.png. Complete body and nine marginal notes. Charity’s primacy, Augustinian friendship and scriptural duties. Preserve will resist evil and the biblical locators; distinguish English and Latin marginal wording.
Scan 537; printed 429; sequence 437; image block111-source-537.png. Opening body through Christian Laws of Love, Boethius three-line verse with margin p, then Angelical souls through and have another heaven upon earth! Exclude the following paragraph But this we cannot do and marginal q, reserved for 112.
Opening words: For the nature of true friendship is to combine, to be like affected, of one minde,
Closing words: and have another heaven upon earth!
Passages DJR-112-01 to DJR-112-46
Source page labels: 429–433 (sequence 437–441). Scan pages: 537, 538, 539, 540, 541.
Scan 537; printed 429; sequence 437; image block111-source-537.png. Begin But this we cannot do, after the Boethius verse and Angelical souls passage already included in111. Include margins q–t. The final sentence continues on538.
Scan 538; printed 430; sequence 438; image block111-source-538.png. Complete body and marginal u. Revenge, hoarding, refused appeals for aid and self-interested beneficence. Preserve both Latin verse passages in lineated form. Final sentence continues on539.
Scan 539; printed 431; sequence 439; image block112-source-539.png. Complete body and seven marginal notes, x, y, dagger, asterisk, dagger, z and a. Cosimo, architectural memorials, poetry, exemplars of virtue and the departure of Justice. Preserve the one-line Muse fragment and two-line Horace quotation. Final sentence continues on540.
Scan 540; printed 432; sequence 440; image block112-source-540.png. Complete body and five marginal notes, b–e and Josephus dagger. Litigation, war, religious polemic, attributed Inquisition totals, lack of charity and disasters. Gallienus, intervening verse and Aurelian share one marginal note. Final sentence continues on541.
Scan 541; printed 433; sequence 441; image block112-source-541.png. Opening body and margins f–h only, through think upon it: and be wise. Completes Member3 Charity and Section1. Exclude the actual Section2 heading, following body and margins i/k, all reserved for113.
Opening words: But this we cannot do; and which is the cause of all our woes, miseries, discontent, melancholy,
Closing words: think upon it: and be wise.
Passages DJR-113-01 to DJR-113-58
Source page labels: 433–438 (sequence 441–446). Scan pages: 541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 546.
Scan 541; printed 433; sequence 441; image block112-source-541.png. Begin at the actual SECT.2 MEMB.1 SUBSECT.1 heading, Heroicall love causing Melancholy. Include opening body and margins i/k. Exclude charity conclusion and margins f–h already in112. Continue sentence on542.
Scan 542; printed 434; sequence 442; image block112-source-542.png. Complete body and13 margins. Love’s genealogy, Porus/Penia, Aristophanes, Vulcan, Cupid iconography, divinity, Plautus and Caecilius. Keep Plautus lineated. Final Caecilius passage continues on543.
Scan 543; printed 435; sequence 443; image block112-source-543.png. Complete body and13 margins. Caecilius verse, blindness and expulsion myths, Sophocles and Thetide verses, Jupiter and Venus, Hercules and Ovid, plant love and Claudian. Preserve all verse units and Burton’s independent English couplet.
Scan 544; printed 436; sequence 444; image block112-source-544.png. Complete body and8 recoverable margins f,g,h,k,l,m,n,asterisk. Palm stories, authority chain, Virgil, Propertius, mares and lions, rutting stags. Orphan superscript i retained literally; no matching marginal text visible on scan. Last sentence continues on545.
Scan 545; printed 437; sequence 445; image block113-source-545.png. Complete body and8 margins. Finish stags, birdsong and Lucretius, fish, Saxo bear, peacock, dolphins, Busbecq lynx/crane, Orphic couplet, spirits and Weyer denial. Last passage continues on546.
Scan 546; printed 438; sequence 446; image block113-source-546.png. Opening body through Menippus phantom bride and many thousands took notice of this fact, for it was done in the midst of Greece. Include margins t,u,x only. Exclude Sabine in his Comment... and subsequent margins y onward, reserved for114.
Opening words: SECT. 2. MEMB. 1. SUBSECT. 1. Heroicall love causing Melancholy. His Pedegree, Power, and Extent.
Socrates
Reading The Anatomy of Melancholy · Source Record · Source record
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.
- PDF editionComplete annotated edition — PDF
- EPUB editionComplete annotated edition — EPUB
- Word editionComplete annotated edition — Word
- Markdown editionComplete annotated edition — Markdown
- Principal historical witnessMcGill University Library — 1651 edition
- Supplied 1651 openingBavarian State Library — supplied opening
- Independent local comparison witnessIndependent 1651 microfilm — comparison opening