Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Parallel Edition
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English Introduction · Branch 1253 of 1495
Source Record
The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record
p. 1253Scan 806; printed 694; sequence 706; image block163-source-806.png. All body and seven marginal entries. The Paterculus story remains as Burton tells it, with differences from the ancient text noted. Zanchi, Musculus, hope and temporary despair distinguished. Abernethy margin belongs with the final passage continuing onto 807.
Scan 807; printed 695; sequence 707; image block163-source-807.png. Only the opening conclusion through the minde eclypsed with black fumes arising from those perpetual terrours. Excludes the complete Subsection 3 heading, its body and all marginal entries; these belong to 164.
Opening words: To these professed Atheists we may well add
Closing words: the minde eclypsed with black fumes arising from those perpetual terrours.
Passages DJR-164-01 to DJR-164-56
Source page labels: 695–700 (sequence 707–712). Scan pages: 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812.
Scan 807; printed 695; sequence 707; image block164-source-807.png. Begins with complete Subsection 3 heading, Causes of despair. Includes remaining body and all six marginal entries. The opening conclusion of Subsection 2 belongs to 163. The two unmarked Vers. references are retained with editorial explanation.
Scan 808; printed 696; sequence 708; image block164-source-808.png. All body and nine marginal entries. Distinguishes melancholy from despair and reports medical cases. The two first-person statements belong to the cited physician, not Burton. Altered Democritus story and incorrect Gellius locator retained and explained.
Scan 809; printed 697; sequence 709; image block164-source-809.png. All body and three marginal entries. Continues the physician case, then discusses excessive meditation on judgement and eternity. Both six-line columns of the verse are preserved sequentially. Jerome attribution and printed In 17. Johannis marginal locator remain unresolved.
Scan 810; printed 698; sequence 710; image block164-source-810.png. All body and five marginal entries. Scriptural misreading and harsh preaching, including criticism of Catholic and Protestant pastors. Erasmus body and margin variants retained. Begins conscience paragraph continued on 811.
Scan 811; printed 699; sequence 711; image block164-source-811.png. All body and eleven marginal entries. Includes two-line Orestes exchange and one-line Juvenal verse. Conscience becomes ledger, mill, witness and court. All Latin and separate English restatements retained. Final sentence continues onto 812.
Scan 812; printed 700; sequence 712; image block164-source-812.png. Only the first line, concluding to torment their souls for their sins past. Excludes all following body and all marginal entries, which belong to 165.
Opening words: SUBSECT. 3. Causes of despair, the Divel, melancholy, meditation, Distrust, weakness of faith, rigid Ministers, misunderstanding Scriptures, guilty consciences, &c.
Closing words: to torment their souls for their sins past.
Passages DJR-165-01 to DJR-165-46
Source page labels: 700–704 (sequence 712–716). Scan pages: 812, 813, 814, 815, 816.
Scan 812; printed 700; sequence 712; image block165-source-812.png. Begins with Tragical examples in this kinde are too familiar and common. Includes all subsequent body and all seven marginal entries, a, b, p, q, r, s, t. The first line ending sins past belongs to 164. The faint pœnis reading in the Buchanan margin is explicitly provisional; translation tentatively follows intended plenis.
Scan 813; printed 701; sequence 713; image block165-source-813.png. All body and the single marginal entry u. Completes the retribution legends, then Burton’s anti-Catholic polemic concerning indulgences and confessors. The accusations are retained and identified as polemic.
Scan 814; printed 702; sequence 714; image block165-source-814.png. All body, both Subsection 4 headings and all seven marginal entries, dagger, x, y, z, a, b, c. Two Latin lines combine Juvenal and Lucan; the separate English couplet remains. The Philostratus margin lacks a matching body marker and is anchored with the troubled-sleep passage, with editorial explanation.
Scan 815; printed 703; sequence 715; image block165-source-815.png. All body and both marginal entries, dagger and d. Includes biblical quotations, Mersenne’s reported cases and Platter’s account of involuntary thoughts. Printed locators and separate English restatements remain.
Socrates
Reading The Anatomy of Melancholy · Source Record · Source record
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.
- PDF editionComplete annotated edition — PDF
- EPUB editionComplete annotated edition — EPUB
- Word editionComplete annotated edition — Word
- Markdown editionComplete annotated edition — Markdown
- Principal historical witnessMcGill University Library — 1651 edition
- Supplied 1651 openingBavarian State Library — supplied opening
- Independent local comparison witnessIndependent 1651 microfilm — comparison opening