The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

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The Anatomy of MelancholySubsection 11. the Concupiscible Appetite: Desires and Ambition as Causes.

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Facing Pages · Branch 273 of 1495

Subsection 11. the Concupiscible Appetite: Desires and Ambition as Causes.

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1651 English

113–114

and for his own part, si appetitum explere non potest, furore corripitur; if he cannot satisfie his desire (as Bodine writes) he runs mad. So that both wayes, hit or miss, he is distracted so long as his Ambition lasts, he can look for no other but anxiety and care, discontent and grief in the mean time, madness it self, or violent death in the end.

The event of this is common to be seen in populous Cities, or in Princes Courts, for a Courtiers life (as Budæus describes it) is a Gallimaufry of ambition, lust, fraud, imposture, dissimulation, detraction, envy, pride; the Court, a common conventicle of flatterers, time-servers, politicians, &c. or as Anthony Perez will, the suburbs of hell it self. If you will see such discontented persons, there you shall likely finde them.

And which he observed of the markets of old Rome, Qui perjurum convenire vult hominem, mitto in Comitium; Qui mendacem & gloriosum, apud Cluasinæ sacrum; Dites, damnosos maritos, sub basilica quærito, &c.

Perjur’d knaves, Knights of the Post, liers, crackers, bad husbands, &c. keep their severall stations; they do still, and alwayes did in every commonwealth.

3122.BurtonBottom note g: “Lib.5. de rep. cap.1.” Bodin, On the Commonwealth, book 5, chapter 1. The other g on this page, referring to Budé, is preserved with his comparison above.

3123.BurtonBottom note h: “Imprimis verò appetitus, seu concupiscentia nimia rei alicujus, honestæ vel inhonestæ, phantasiam lædunt: unde multi ambitiosi, philauti, irati, avari, insani, &c. Felix Plater l.3. de mentis alien.” “Above all, appetite, or excessive desire for anything honourable or dishonourable, injures the imagination; hence many ambitious, self-loving, angry and covetous people become mad,” and so on. Felix Platter, On Mental Alienation, book 3.

3125.BurtonBottom note i: “Aulica vita colluvies ambitionis, cupiditatis, simulationis, imposturæ, fraudis, invidiæ, superbiæ Titanicæ diversorium aula, & commune conventiculum assentandi artificum, &c. Budæus de asse. lib.5.” “Court life is a filthy mixture of ambition, greed, pretence, imposture, fraud and envy; the court a lodging for Titanic pride and a common meeting place for masters of flattery,” and so on. Budé, De asse, book 5.

3126.BurtonBottom note k: “In his Aphor.” In his Aphorisms.

3128.BurtonBottom note l: “Plautus Curcul. Act.4. Sce.1.” Plautus, Curculio, act 4, scene 1; compare lines 470–472.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 11. the Concupiscible Appetite: Desires and Ambition as Causes.

p. 273

For his own part, “if he cannot satisfy his appetite, he is seized by madness”: if he cannot satisfy his desire, as Bodin writes, he goes mad. So, either way, success or failure, he is distraught for as long as his ambition lasts. He can expect nothing but anxiety and care, discontent and grief in the meantime, and madness itself or a violent death at the end.

The results are commonly seen in populous cities and princes’ courts. For a courtier’s life, as Budé describes it, is a hotchpotch of ambition, lust, fraud, imposture, deceit, detraction, envy and pride; the court, a common gathering place for flatterers, time-servers, schemers and the like—or, as Antonio Pérez has it, the suburbs of hell itself. If you want to see such discontented people, you are likely to find them there.

And as the poet observed of the marketplaces of ancient Rome: Whoever wants to meet a perjurer, I send to the Comitium; For a liar and braggart, go to Cloacina’s shrine; For rich, spendthrift husbands, look beneath the basilica, and so on.

Perjured rogues, hired false witnesses, liars, boasters, spendthrifts and the like each keep to their particular stations. They still do, and always have, in every commonwealth.

3124.“Distracted” can mean both mentally tormented and deranged. Burton makes disappointed ambition a medical as well as a moral cause. Bodin’s and Platter’s exact source contexts remain to be checked; these historical claims are preserved as his argument.

3127.“Gallimaufry” is a hotchpotch or medley; “conventicle,” a gathering place or assembly, here contemptuously used. “Politicians” means calculating schemers. Antonio Pérez’s exact aphorism is not yet located.

3129.Plautus, Curculio 470–472. The Comitium was a public assembly area; Cloacina’s shrine and the basilica are locations in the Roman Forum. The printed “Cluasinæ” is regularized to Cloacina’s on the right. Burton’s “mitto,” I send, differs from the comparison text’s “ito,” go. His prose restatement follows separately.

3130.“Knights of the Post” are professional false witnesses, not members of an order of chivalry. “Crackers” means boasters; “bad husbands,” bad managers of their resources, hence spendthrifts. The phrase also echoes the literal husbands in Plautus’s line.

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.

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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.