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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 1232 of 1495

Source Record

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record

p. 1232

Scan 586; printed 478; sequence 486; image block121-source-586.png. Only opening continuation through all such inordinate,furious and unruly passions and two margins:o Lucian,p Non sic Furius. Jerome comparison checked as Letter77 on Fabiola,not Blesilla. Following But I am over tedious paragraph and all remaining margins,beginning dagger Anacreon4,are reserved for122.

Opening words: When you have all done, veniunt à veste sagittæ, the greatest provocations of lust are from our apparel;

Closing words: all such inordinate, furious and unruly passions.

Passages DJR-122-01 to DJR-122-43

Source page labels: 478–483 (sequence 486–491). Scan pages: 586, 587, 588, 589, 590, 591.

Scan 586; printed 478; sequence 486; image block122-source-586.png. Begin But I am over tedious after the closing121 paragraph. Include remaining body and six margins: dagger Anacreon, dagger Affer tecum, asterisk Theognis, dagger Chaloner, r Danae, s Ovid. The opening continuation and o Lucian/p Non sic Furius belong to121. Greek and ligatures directly read enlarged. Omit catchword; Sir Giles Goosecap continues587.

Scan 587; printed 479; sequence 487; image block122-source-587.png. Complete body and eight margins: dagger Aristaenetus14, asterisk Qui caret, t Juvenal, dagger Lucian, dagger Newburgh, u Gaguinus, x Zonaras, y Barbaro. Printed t and anchors checked. Names retained in source column; Lucian and Geoffrey discrepancies noted. Omit signature and catchword.

Scan 588; printed 480; sequence 488; image block122-source-588.png. Complete body, Subsection4 heading and five margins: z Tatius, dagger hungry dogs, asterisk Shakespeare, a Tatius1, b breasts. Heading split into two aligned heading units. Body Tatius2 and margin1 both retained. Ismenius paragraph continues589. Ornamental initial becomes ordinary capital; omit running head and catchword.

Scan 589; printed 481; sequence 489; image block122-source-589.png. Complete body and seven margins: asterisk Mantuan, asterisk OvidMet1, c Eustathius scene, dagger Aristaenetus4, asterisk Virgil, asterisk Propertius, d OvidAmores. Geneseo and plea retained on left with contextual readings explained. Youth/night paragraph continues590; omit signature and catchword.

Scan 590; printed 482; sequence 490; image block122-source-590.png. Complete body and eight margins: dagger Aretino, e Castiglione, dagger adulterated cloth, f Busbecq, g Boemus, h Chrysostom, i Jerome, k gestures. The bottom horizontal continuation belongs to k and is included in full. Body hair/girdle account differs from margin and is noted. For as he goes on continues591; omit catchword.

Scan 591; printed 483; sequence 491; image block122-source-591.png. Only top body through Pontanus Latin and Burton English verse and the following How shall he contain? Include l Jerome dress, m Chrysostom, dagger PontanusBaiae1. Printed ruffling checked in enlarged crop. Remaining body begins voices/speech and is reserved123 along with n P.Jovius and subsequent margins.

Opening words: But I am over tedious, I confess, and whilst I stand gaping after fine clothes, there is another great allurement,

Closing words: How shall he contain?

Passages DJR-123-01 to DJR-123-52

Source page labels: 483–488 (sequence 491–496). Scan pages: 591, 592, 593, 594, 595, 596.

Scan 591; printed 483; sequence 491; image block123-source-591.png. Begin The very tone of some of their voices immediately after the Block 122 ending How shall he contain? Include six remaining margins: n Giovio, o Ovid, dagger Aristaenetus book 1, dagger Aristaenetus 2.5 including Quam suave, p Lucian and q Theocritus. Earlier l, m and dagger Pontanus belong to Block 122. The displaced dagger near Petronius is explained, not silently reassigned. Omit running head, signature and catchword.

Scan 592; printed 484; sequence 492; image block123-source-592.png. Complete body and five margins: dagger Plutarch, r Tatius, s Apollonius, t Catullus and dagger Pornodidascalus. Latin and Burton English verses remain separate. Argus line identified as Ovid Metamorphoses 1.625. Omit running head and catchword.

Scan 593; printed 485; sequence 493; image block123-source-593.png. Complete body and eight margins: dagger Lucian, u Tatius, dagger de luxuria, x Aeneas Silvius, asterisk Martial, dagger Vitruvius, y Eustathius with Suetonius and dagger Xenophon. Preserve nequam in the Martial verse and explain the disagreement with Burton English. Omit running head, signature and catchword.

1232

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.