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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 1241 of 1495

Source Record

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record

p. 1241

Scan 675; printed 567; sequence 575; image block138-source-675.png. Complete body and ten margins. Include the defence of harmonious marriage, the Euripides couplet and its separate English version, Aelius Verus, Horace, polygamy, Terence, Lucian, Juvenal and Seneca. The final comparison continues onto PDF 676. Ecclus 28 final numeral is marked uncertain; Pythias retained.

Scan 676; printed 568; sequence 576; image block138-source-676.png. Include the completion of the Nero paragraph, the blackletter couplet, the catalogue of mismatched couples and the disclaimer. Continue through Being that men and women are so irreligious, the Latin verse and the English couplet ending Thou hadst much better be alone. Include only the first two margins: Camerarius and Simonides. All text from If she be barren, she is not and remaining margins belong to 139.

Opening words: I will say nothing of the vices of their mindes

Closing words: Thou hadst much better be alone.

Passages DJR-139-01 to DJR-139-68

Source page labels: 568–573 (sequence 576–581). Scan pages: 676, 677, 678, 679, 680, 681.

Scan 676; printed 568; sequence 576; image block139-source-676.png. Begin If she be barren, she is not, after the couplet included in 138. Include children, poverty, the Greek proverb and its Latin version, Augustus and troublesome households. Include the remaining six margins beginning the Bacon note. Camerarius and Simonides belong to 138. Final sentence continues onto 677.

Scan 677; printed 569; sequence 577; image block139-source-677.png. Complete body and ten margins. Include the learned wife, cosmetics, Casimir, widowhood, dowry and loss of freedom, and the paradox of the right age for marriage. Preserve Latin verse and separate English glosses.

Scan 678; printed 570; sequence 578; image block139-source-678.png. Complete body and nine margins. Praise of unmarried life and virginity, Catullus, drawbacks, the proposed college for unmarried women, and the legacy-hunters. The Juvenal asterisk has no corresponding margin. The final Annals 11 margin is attached to Tacitus in the sentence continuing onto 679.

Scan 679; printed 571; sequence 579; image block139-source-679.png. Complete body and five margins. Include legacy-hunters, Plautus and Burton’s separate verse, marriage as servitude, Terence, Scheraeus and the closing bibliography. Do not duplicate the catchword SUBS.

Scan 680; printed 572; sequence 580; image block139-source-680.png. Complete body, Subsection 4 heading, and five margins. Include the magical remedies, owl’s egg, Faustina, talismans, Protesilaus, Leucadian rock and opening Sappho account. Preserve Burton’s Protela daughter of Degoneus, with discrepancy from Strabo explained.

Scan 681; printed 573; sequence 581; image block139-source-681.png. Include the completion of the Sappho account, Deucalion verse and separate English rendering, Scaliger, the spring, Love of Forgetfulness, Naupactus, Seneleus and the closing rebellion against Cupid. Include seven margins ending Cupido crucifixus, including the separate Seneca note. End or satisfie their desires. Stop before Subsection 5 heading; its body and Jason Pratensis margin belong to 140.

Opening words: If she be barren, she is not

Closing words: or satisfie their desires.

Passages DJR-140-01 to DJR-140-89

Source page labels: 573–577 with unnumbered versos (sequence 581–587). Scan pages: 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687.

Scan 681; printed 573; sequence 581; image block140-source-681.png. Start at Subsection 5 heading, then The last refuge and surest remedy. Include the Jason Pratensis marginal entry and the Latin and English Aeneas/Lavinia couplets. Seven preceding margins and the body above the heading belong to 139. Omit catchword Tis.

Scan 682; printed 574; sequence 582; image block140-source-682.png. Complete body and eight margins. Union as the final medical remedy; Julia/Julian and the Petronius Catal. attribution; Avicenna; Aretaeus; Pontanus verse and prose; impediments; Euphues; Elizabeth; Lucretia. Final sentence continues on 683.

Scan 683; printed 575; sequence 583; image block140-source-683.png. Complete body and nine margins. Complete Lucretia sentence; sum(m)am quotation; ranks and marriage; Moschus; Cupid’s arrows; Choresus; appeal Alma to the Sibyl adapted to a mistress; Erasmus; Angeriano; Virgil; Lechæus. Final sentence continues on 684.

1241

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.