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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 1236 of 1495

Source Record

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record

p. 1236

Scan 622; printed 514; sequence 522; image block128-source-622.png. Complete body and eight margins. Enlarged detail confirms niveam. Retain placidae in Ovid and explain the Tarquinius context. Preserve Silius potis and the untraced Gargara fragment.

Scan 623; printed 515; sequence 523; image block128-source-623.png. Complete body and fifteen margins. Enlarged margin confirms Leonibus cor est violabile telis. Preserve the Marullo rearrangement and distinguish est meaning eats from Burton’s gentle-fire English rendering.

Scan 624; printed 516; sequence 524; image block128-source-624.png. Complete body and twelve margins, including the first Qui quaeso amo gloss at the bottom. The next page repeats the gloss as a separate marginal entry. Preserve the alleged dissection as a reported claim with unresolved source.

Scan 625; printed 517; sequence 525; image block128-source-625.png. Opening body through all his mind was on his new Mistress, completing the Abelard example. First five marginal entries included, ending Epist. prima. Next block begins Now to this end and purpose; resume margins at Boethius l. 3 Met. ult.

Opening words: If he hear ill news, have bad success in his suit, she frown upon him, or that his Mistress in his presence respect another more

Closing words: all his mind was on his new Mistress.

Passages DJR-129-01 to DJR-129-92

Source page labels: 517–523 (sequence 525–531). Scan pages: 625, 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631.

Scan 625; printed 517; sequence 525; image block129-source-625.png. Begin Now to this end and purpose immediately after Block 128. Include remaining body and last four marginal entries, beginning Boethius l. 3 Met. ult. The first five margins belong to 128. Prodromus margin Amor is an abbreviated work title, not the subject of genibus provolutus.

Scan 626; printed 518; sequence 526; image block129-source-626.png. Complete body and all eight marginal entries. Enlarged detail confirms ipso in Immensus amor ipso stultitia est; retain and explain the expected ipsa. Distinguish the Latin quotations from Burton’s separate English renderings, including Myrrha and Medea.

Scan 627; printed 519; sequence 527; image block129-source-627.png. Complete body and all five marginal entries. Preserve the distinction between Burton’s Lap-wing and Alciato’s hoopoe. Enlarged catalogue detail confirms savours with long s, meaning smells, rather than favours.

Scan 628; printed 520; sequence 528; image block129-source-628.png. Complete body and all nine marginal entries. Preserve Tyndarios in the Octavia quotation and the indistinct Spenser locator Cant. lir.4; exact Spenser line remains unresolved.

Scan 629; printed 521; sequence 529; image block129-source-629.png. Complete body and all five marginal entries. Preserve the separate Chaucer, Ovid and Burton English verse. Retain tuæ in the Heloise Latin quotation and explain its grammar. Distinguish Burton’s Nicomachus anecdote from the related Aelian Nicostratus account.

Scan 630; printed 522; sequence 530; image block129-source-630.png. Complete body and all eight marginal entries. Preserve Martial erit and Burton’s citation 5.38 while documenting the consulted 5.37 context. Retain the irregular Ariosto pastoral list and separate Catulus Latin and English versions.

Scan 631; printed 523; sequence 531; image block129-source-631.png. Opening body through and yet their slavery is more eminent, a greater sign of their folly then the rest. Include first five marginal entries, ending Epist.24. Retain and flag doubtful nullo loco solus es. Next block starts They are commonly slaves; its first margin is y Lib.3. de aulico.

Opening words: Now to this end and purpose, if there be any hope of obtaining his suit, to prosecute his cause, he will spend himself, goods, fortunes for her

Closing words: and yet their slavery is more eminent, a greater sign of their folly then the rest.

Passages DJR-130-01 to DJR-130-56

Source page labels: 523–528 (sequence 531–536). Scan pages: 631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636.

Scan 631; printed 523; sequence 531; image block130-source-631.png. Begin They are commonly slaves immediately after Block 129. Include remaining body and last four margins y, z, c, d, including the bottom continuation of d. First five margins belong to 129.

1236

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.