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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 1235 of 1495

Source Record

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record

p. 1235

Scan 613; printed 505; sequence 513; image block126-source-613.png. Complete body and thirteen margins. Retain printed medico in Barclay, with the modern slight explicitly identified as a conjectural modico. Read quam subolfacerem adulteri amore in the Struś margin. Explain the Galen identity conflation and Apollonius book reference.

Scan 614; printed 506; sequence 514; image block126-source-614.png. Opening continuation through the Latin and English couplets on mutual blushes; include only the first marginal entry, Arnulphus as bishop of Lisieux. The following paragraph But the best conjectures and the Theodorus Prodromus margin begin Block 127.

Opening words: The last battering engins, are Philters, Amulets, Spells, Charms, Images, and such unlawful means; if they cannot prevail of themselves by the help of Bawds, Panders, and their adherents, they will flye for succour to the Divel himself.

Closing words: Their faces answer, and by blushing say, How both affected are, they do bewray.

Passages DJR-127-01 to DJR-127-77

Source page labels: 506–512 (sequence 514–520). Scan pages: 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, 620.

Scan 614; printed 506; sequence 514; image block127-source-614.png. Begin But the best conjectures immediately after the Block 126 endpoint. Include the rest of the body and nine remaining marginal entries, beginning with Theodorus Prodromus. The first margin, Arnulphus, belongs to 126. Retain Figam in Secundus and millia in the Catullus conclusion; explain variants in notes.

Scan 615; printed 507; sequence 515; image block127-source-615.png. Complete body and ten independent marginal entries. Preserve the printed Lucretius readings and the mutual-gaze couplet. The final dagger Dial. amorum and asterisk Ad occasum entries are separate notes with separate anchors, verified from an enlarged detail.

Scan 616; printed 508; sequence 516; image block127-source-616.png. Complete body and eight margins. Preserve the discrepancy between seven or eight journeys in the body and six or seven in the Theatre of the World margin. Retain Horace repetuntur and explain the variant.

Scan 617; printed 509; sequence 517; image block127-source-617.png. Complete body and nine margins. The account moves from bodily behaviour to mental symptoms. Record the printed Sphines as uncertain. Preserve Augustine chapter 20 in the margin and identify the matching passage in chapter 22. Retain audaciae and Excogitantia in the dramatic catalogues.

Scan 618; printed 510; sequence 518; image block127-source-618.png. Complete body and nine marginal entries, including the unmarked Ovid beside the Catullus quotation. Preserve Burton’s daughters of Venus claim and explain the Hesiod discrepancy. Latin quotations and Burton’s separate English versions remain independent units.

Scan 619; printed 511; sequence 519; image block127-source-619.png. Complete body and eight margins. Preserve optandum in Catullus. Notes identify the context and reordered chronology of Chaerea’s speeches, and correct the final Adelphoe attribution to Andria 606, spoken by Davus. Continue the final sentence onto PDF 620.

Scan 620; printed 512; sequence 520; image block127-source-620.png. Opening continuation only, through every Lover’s in the like state. The next paragraph If he hear ill news begins Block 128. All marginal entries on this page, beginning with Hædus, belong to 128.

Opening words: But the best conjectures are taken from such symptomes as appear when they are both present; all their speeches, amorous glances, actions, lascivious gestures will bewray them, they cannot contain themselves, but that they will be still kissing.

Closing words: ’Tis not Chæreas case this alone, but his, and his, and every Lover’s in the like state.

Passages DJR-128-01 to DJR-128-82

Source page labels: 512–517 (sequence 520–525). Scan pages: 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625.

Scan 620; printed 512; sequence 520; image block128-source-620.png. Begin If he hear ill news immediately after Block 127. Include remaining body and all eleven margins, starting Haedus. Preserve defective in armor in the margin and explain the marble interpretation. Windmill margin reads emblem 13.

Scan 621; printed 513; sequence 521; image block128-source-621.png. Complete body and six margins. Preserve Burton’s altered Terence and Virgil quotations, and the separate Terence sleeplessness fragment. Buchanan poem continues onto the next page.

1235

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.