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 MelancholySource Record

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English Introduction · Branch 1229 of 1495

Source Record

Book Mode

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record

p. 1229

Scan 556; printed 448; sequence 456; image block116-source-556.png. Complete body and five margins: h,dagger,asterisk,i,dagger. Greek incipit enlarged and read. Latin and separate English verse preserved. Final for which continues on557; omit catchword cause.

Scan 557; printed 449; sequence 457; image block116-source-557.png. Complete body and nine margins: k,dagger,l,m,asterisk,dagger,n,o,p. Source Misnia and extra negative non concupierit retained and annotated. Concubines crosses to558; omit catchword cubines.

Scan 558; printed 450; sequence 458; image block116-source-558.png. Complete body and eleven margins: q,r,s,t,dagger,u,dagger,dagger,x,y,asterisk. Original Latin and English couplets retained. Printed juxu retained. Final those continues on559; omit catchword Sybarites.

Scan 559; printed 451; sequence 459; image block116-source-559.png. Complete body and fourteen margins: dagger,z,a,b,c,d,e,dagger,dagger,f,asterisk,g,h,dagger. h and final dagger continue across page foot; both read and transcribed in full. Entire Latin catalogue translated. End completes subsection. Omit catchword Sub-.

Opening words: MEMB. 2. SUBSECT. 1. Causes of Heroicall love, Temperature, full Diet, Idleness, Place, Climate, &c.

Closing words: sed pro virili tanquam syrtes & cautes consulto effugiat.

Passages DJR-117-01 to DJR-117-51

Source page labels: 452–456 (sequence 460–464). Scan pages: 560, 561, 562, 563, 564.

Scan 560; printed 452; sequence 460; image block117-source-560.png. Begin at Member2 Subsection2 heading. Complete body and eleven margins: i,k,l,m,n,o,p,dagger,r,dagger,t. Marginal n is anchored at its corresponding clause with the indistinct body marker explained. The final four notes and conclusion of p run across the foot. Greek and sluices enlarged and checked. Omit catchword This.

Scan 561; printed 453; sequence 461; image block117-source-561.png. Complete body and nine marginal units: u,dagger,x,y,asterisk,z,a,dagger,and unmarked Plutarch/Brissonius/Strabo lines. Last body word condemned crosses onto562. Omit catchword ned.

Scan 562; printed 454; sequence 462; image block117-source-562.png. Complete body and six margins: dagger,asterisk,asterisk,b,c,d. Preserve No worth is eminent,Idalian,and the printed Massovius. Final command crosses onto563; omit catchword mand.

Scan 563; printed 455; sequence 463; image block117-source-563.png. Complete body and nine margins: dagger,dagger,y,k,l,m,n,dagger,asterisk. Preserve separate Daniel and Strozzi verse units; the body’s Athenaeus and marginal Various History mismatch is annotated. Omit catchword And.

Scan 564; printed 456; sequence 464; image block117-source-564.png. Include body from And those mali genii through Malthus and the fly,ending as ravished with his divine looks. Include all six margins: dagger,o,p,dagger,asterisk,dagger. Reserve final Inanimate creatures I suppose and all565 content for118. The ass passage’s printed book8 is retained and compared with Apuleius6.28–29.

Opening words: MEMB. 2. SUBSECT. 2. Other causes of Love-Melancholy, Sight, Beauty from the face, eyes, other parts, and how it pierceth.

Closing words: as ravished with his divine looks.

Passages DJR-118-01 to DJR-118-68

Source page labels: 456–461 (sequence 464–469). Scan pages: 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569.

Scan 564; printed 456; sequence 464; image block118-source-564.png. Only the final Inanimate creatures I suppose is in118. All preceding body and all six margins are in117. Omit catchword have,which is read from565.

Scan 565; printed 457; sequence 465; image block118-source-565.png. Complete body and all nine marginal units,p,dagger,dagger,asterisk,dagger,asterisk,dagger,asterisk,dagger. Latin and Burton English mirror versions kept separate. Preserve this was turn,Pincus,Ericthons and aspicias; uncertain readings annotated. Omit catchword with and signature.

Scan 566; printed 458; sequence 466; image block118-source-566.png. Complete body and all thirteen marginal units,dagger,dagger,r,s,t,asterisk,u,x,dagger,asterisk,y,dagger,asterisk. Enlarged Musaeus margin read and its absent or indistinct body marker explained. Preserve Plutus and Philo Dioneus; Latin and English Hero quotations separate. Omit catchword When.

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.