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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 1256 of 1495

Source Record

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Source Record

p. 1256

Scan 833; printed 721; sequence 733; image block169-source-833.png. All body and one marginal entry. Medical treatment, amulets, stones, herbs, fumigations, two inline recipes, lamps and opening of Cardan passage. Scan reading all profligandis dæmonibus preserved; vitis alba translated as white bryony. All Latin and English restatements retained. Prescription signs represented by ℞.

Scan 834; printed 722; sequence 734; image block169-source-834.png. All body and three marginal entries. Completion of Cardan, ritual and exorcism, French possession narrative, patristic counsel and final practical directions. Printed S. Bawne, Domphius and Cura. Lam. meles. retained and uncertainties recorded. Psalm 67 follows Vulgate numbering. Includes Navarrus locator and the beginning of counsel that continues on the next page.

Scan 835; printed 723; sequence 735; image block169-source-835.png. All body and two marginal entries, including Navarrus and Isaiah 50:4. Concluding counsel against solitude and idleness, two-line Sperate miseri motto, final Latin quotation attributed to Augustine and FINIS. Catchword The omitted. End of main text; alphabetical Table later in scan and earlier front matter remain outside this block.

Opening words: Now last of all to those external impediments, terrible objects

Closing words: FINIS.

Passages DJR-171-001 to DJR-171-310

Source page labels: unnumbered Table A–L. Scan pages: 837, 838, 839, 840, 841.

Scan 837; printed unnumbered Table; image block170-next-table-837.png. Heading The Table, A and B through Bread and beer. Both columns complete.

Scan 838; printed unnumbered Table; image block171-source-838.png. B continued through Business; all C; D through Diet how rectified. Both columns complete.

Scan 839; printed unnumbered Table; image block171-source-839.png. Diet entry continuation In quantity joined to preceding leaf; all remaining D, E, F and G through Geography. Both columns complete.

Scan 840; printed unnumbered Table; image block171-source-840.png. G continued through Guts; all H, I including J entries, K and L through Laws against Adultery. Hypocondriacal entry joined across columns.

Scan 841; printed unnumbered Table; image block171-source-841.png. Top left column, Leo decimus through Lycanthropia described 9 inclusive. Stop immediately before M.

Opening words: The Table.

Closing words: Lycanthropia described 9

Passages DJR-172-001 to DJR-172-292

Source page labels: unnumbered Table and closing notice. Scan pages: 841, 842, 843, 844, 845.

Scan 841; printed unnumbered Table and closing notice; image block171-source-841.png. Start at M immediately after the A–L ending in Block 171. All M and N entries through the beginning of Neglect and contempt. Medicines entry joined across columns.

Scan 842; printed unnumbered Table and closing notice; image block172-source-842.png. Join Neglect and contempt ending jealousie 616 to previous leaf. All remaining N, O and P entries through Prognosticks. Both columns complete.

Scan 843; printed unnumbered Table and closing notice; image block172-source-843.png. P continues with Precedency; all Q and R; S through the beginning of Study over-much. Both columns complete.

Scan 844; printed unnumbered Table and closing notice; image block172-source-844.png. Join Study continuation why and how through study good to previous leaf. Remaining S, all T and V including U, and W through Who are most apt to be jealous. Both columns complete.

Scan 845; printed unnumbered Table and closing notice; image block172-source-845.png. Remaining W and Y, including Witches continuation nor Saints 224 at top of second column. To the Reader, H. C. signature and complete 1651 imprint. All substantive printed matter complete.

Opening words: M

Closing words: 1651.

1256

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.