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Robert Burton

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 14 Self-Love, Vainglory, Praise, Honour, Excessive Applause, Pride…

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Facing Pages · Branch 285 of 1495

Subsection 14 Self-Love, Vainglory, Praise, Honour, Excessive Applause, Pride…

Book Mode

1651 English

122–123 [printed 113]

Vobis & famæ me semper dedi, saith Trebellius Pollio, I have wholly consecrated my self to you and fame: ’Tis all my desire, night and day, ’tis all my study to raise my name. Proud Pliny seconds him; Quanquam O! &c. and that vain-glorious Orator, is not ashamed to confess in an Epistle of his to Marcus Lucceius, Ardeo incredibili cupiditate, &c. I burn with an incredible desire, to have my name registred in thy book. Out of this fountain proceed all those cracks and brags,

——speramus carmina fingi Posse linenda cedro, & leni servanda cupresso——

Non usitata nec tenui ferar penna.——nec in terra morabor longius. Nil parvum aut humili modo, nil mortale loquor. Dicar qua violens obstrepit Aufidus.——Exegi monumentum ære perennius.

Iamque opus exegi, quod nec Iovis ira, nec ignis, &c. cum venit illa dies, &c. parte tamen meliore mei super alta perennis astra ferar, nomenque erit indelebile nostrum (This of Ovid I have paraphrased in English.)

And when I am dead and gone, My corps laid under a stone, My fame shall yet survive, And I shall be alive, In these my works for ever, My glory shall persever, &c.

And that of Ennius,

Nemo me lachrymis decoret, neque funera fletu Faxit, cur? volito docta per ora virum.

With many such proud strains, and foolish flashes too common with Writers. Not so much as Democharis on the Topicks, but he will be immortal: Typotius de fama, shall be famous, and well he deserves, because he writ of fame; and every trivial Poet must be renowned,

——Plausuque petit clarescere vulgi.

This puffing humor it is, that hath produced so many great tomes, built such famous monuments, strong Castles, and Mausolean Tombs, to have their acts eternized, ——Digito monstrari, & dicier hic est; to see their names inscribed, as Phryne on the walls of Thebes, Phryne fecit:

This causeth so many bloody battles, ——Et noctes cogit vigilare serenas; Long journies, Magnum iter intendo, sed dat mihi gloria vires, gaining honor, a little applause. Pride, self-love, Vain-glory.

3286.BurtonMargin r, continued at the foot of page 122: “Epist.5. Capitoni suo. Diebus ac noctibus, hoc solum cogito si qua me possim levare humo. Id voto meo sufficit, &c.” “Letter 5, to his Capito. Day and night I think only of how I may raise myself from the ground. That satisfies my wish,” and so on. Pliny, Letters 5.8.3. Burton compresses and alters a passage in which Pliny quotes Virgil, replacing “tollere” with “levare.” The body’s “Quanquam O!” also occurs there.

3287.BurtonMargin s: “Tullius.” Marcus Tullius Cicero.

3288.BurtonMargin t at the foot of page 122: “Ut nomen meum scriptis tuis illustretur. Inquies animus studio æternitatis, noctes & dies angebatur. Hensius orat. funeb. de Scal.” “That my name may be made illustrious by your writings. His restless mind was tormented night and day by the desire for immortality. Heinsius, funeral oration on Scaliger.” The margin combines the Cicero phrase and a further example; both are retained.

3290.BurtonMargin x at the foot of page 122: “Hor. art. poët.” Horace, Ars Poetica 331–332.

3292.BurtonMargin y at the foot of page 122: “Od. ult. l.3.” Last ode of book 3. Burton’s sequence also includes Horace, Odes 2.20.1–3, before the excerpts from 3.25 and 3.30.

3294.BurtonUnlettered material at the foot of p. 122: “Iamque opus exegi. Vale liber fœlix Palingen. lib.18.” “And now I have finished my work. Farewell, fortunate book. Palingenius, book 18.” Both McGill and BSB 1651 copies read 18, correcting this draft’s 10 in audit pass 14. Iamque opus exegi repeats the Ovid opening in the body. The precise attachment and intended Palingenius reference remain unresolved; 18 records the print, not a verified book locator.

3297.BurtonDagger margin on the page numbered 113, in sequence 123: “In lib.8.” “In book 8.” Attached to Democharis on the Topics; author identification remains uncertain.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 14 Self-Love, Vainglory, Praise, Honour, Excessive Applause, Pride…

p. 285

“I have always devoted myself to you and to fame,” says Trebellius Pollio: I have wholly consecrated myself to you and fame. It is all my desire, night and day; all my study is to raise my name. Proud Pliny supports him: “Although—O!” and so on. And that vainglorious orator is not ashamed to confess, in a letter to Marcus Lucceius, “I burn with an incredible desire,” and so on: I burn with an incredible desire to have my name recorded in your book. From this fountain flow all those boasts and brags,

We hope that poems can be fashioned To be anointed with cedar oil and kept in smooth cypress. —

“On no ordinary or feeble wing shall I be carried—nor shall I linger longer on earth.” “I speak of nothing small or in a humble manner, nothing mortal.” “I shall be spoken of where the fierce Aufidus roars.” “I have raised a monument more lasting than bronze.”

“And now I have finished a work which neither Jupiter’s anger nor fire,” and so on; “when that day comes,” and so on, “yet in my better part I shall be borne immortal above the lofty stars, and my name shall be indelible.” I have paraphrased this passage of Ovid in English.

And when I am dead and gone, My body laid under a stone, My fame shall still survive, And I shall be alive In these my works for ever; My glory shall endure, and so on.

And that passage of Ennius,

Let no one honour me with tears, or weep at my funeral. Why? I fly upon the learned lips of men.

With many such proud strains and foolish flourishes, all too common among writers. Even Democharis, writing on the Topics, must be immortal. Typotius, writing On Fame, must be famous, and well he deserves it, since he wrote about fame! And every trivial poet must be renowned,

And seeks to shine through the applause of the crowd.

It is this self-inflating disposition that has produced so many great volumes, built such famous monuments, strong castles and tombs like that of Mausolus, to make their deeds eternal: “To be pointed out, and have people say, ‘That is the man!’” To see their names inscribed, as Phryne’s on the walls of Thebes: “Phryne made this.”

This causes so many bloody battles, “And compels us to stay awake through clear nights”; Long journeys, “I set out on a long journey, but glory gives me strength”; Winning honour, a little applause. Pride, self-love, vainglory.

3289.Burton prints “Marcus Lucceius”; the letter requesting literary commemoration is Cicero, Letters to Friends 5.12, to Lucius Lucceius. Pliny’s “Quanquam O!” in Letters 5.8.3 is itself a broken-off quotation. It is translated as a fragment, with the continuation left unsupplied.

3291.Horace, Ars Poetica 331–332. Cedar oil and cypress storage protect a book physically; Burton uses them to suggest literary survival. Horace asks whether such poetry can be expected from minds absorbed in money. Burton removes that question’s framing and presents the words as a boast. The print reads “leni,” gentle, where the comparison text has “levi,” smooth; the modern version follows the contextual sense of the cypress surface. The BSB 1651 copy, p. 122, also reads leni; the contextual translation is retained as an explicit editorial choice.

3293.A sequence of Horatian claims to poetic distinction: Odes 2.20.1–3, 3.25.17–18 and 3.30.10, 1. The Aufidus is a river in southern Italy. Burton gathers separate poems into a single catalogue of self-praise and prints “loquor,” I speak, for Horace’s “loquar,” I shall speak.

3295.Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.871–876. Burton quotes selectively and changes “cum volet, illa dies,” when that day wills, to “cum venit illa dies,” when that day comes. His own English paraphrase follows the fresh translation separately. The next source page is misnumbered 113; its sequence position is 123, PDF page 223.

3296.The epitaph ascribed to Ennius is quoted by Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.15.34. Cicero also inserts the question “cur?”, why, but has “vivos,” alive, where Burton prints “docta,” learned. The modern verse translates Burton’s version.

3298.“Democharis” is the name as printed; the identification of the commentator on the Topics remains uncertain. Typotius is Jacobus Typotius, cited for a work on fame. Burton’s praise of him is pointedly circular and ironic.

3299.Mausolus’s tomb supplied the word “mausoleum.” The pointing finger echoes Persius, Satire 1.28. The Phryne story concerns an offer to rebuild Thebes’ walls in return for an inscription; Burton compresses it into an accomplished inscription. The full historical source chain remains to be collated.

3300.Burton’s short quotations interrupt the syntax, with “gaining honour” resuming the catalogue of motives. “Et noctes…” echoes Lucretius, On the Nature of Things 1.142; the journey sustained by glory adapts Propertius 4.10.3, changing “ascendo,” I climb, to “intendo,” I set out or direct my course. Exact intermediary texts remain to be checked.

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.