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 4 Symptoms of Melancholy in Unmarried Women, Nuns and Widows

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Facing Pages · Branch 400 of 1495

Subsection 4 Symptoms of Melancholy in Unmarried Women, Nuns and Widows

Book Mode

1651 English

205

For let them but consider what fearfull maladies, ferall diseases, gross inconveniences come to both sexes by this inforced temperance, it troubles me to think of, much more to relate those frequent aborts and murdring of infants in their Nunneries (read Kemnitius and others) their notorious fornications, those Spintrias, Tribadas, Ambubeias, &c. those rapes, incests, adulteries, masturbations, Sodomies, buggeries of Monkes and Friers. See Bales visitation of Abbies, Mercurialis, Rodericus à Castro, Peter Forestus, and divers physicians; I know their ordinarie Apologies and excuses for these things, sed viderint Politici, Medici, Theologi, I shall more opportunely meet with them elsewhere.

Illius viduæ, aut patronum Virginis hujus, Ne me forte putes, verbum non amplius addam.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 4 Symptoms of Melancholy in Unmarried Women, Nuns and Widows

p. 400

Let them consider what fearful maladies, dreadful diseases and grave harms come to both sexes through this enforced continence. It troubles me to think of, much more to recount, those frequent abortions and murders of infants in their nunneries—read Chemnitz and others—their notorious fornications, those sexual libertines, women who have sex with women, flute girls and the like; those rapes, incests, adulteries, masturbations, sodomies and buggeries of monks and friars. See Bale’s visitation of abbeys, Mercurialis, Rodericus à Castro, Peter Forestus and various physicians. I know their usual defences and excuses for these things; “but let statesmen, physicians and theologians look to them.” I shall deal with them more suitably elsewhere.

Lest you should happen to think me the champion of that widow or this virgin, I shall add no further word.

4719.This is anti-monastic polemic, including allegations of sexual violence and infanticide, not independently verified reporting. Spintrias, Tribadas and Ambubeias are learned terms of sexual or social disparagement; the renderings preserve their force without assigning modern identities. Ambubeias evokes the classical flute girl, used contemptuously here. “Sodomy” and “buggery” are overlapping historical terms; neither supplies a precise modern classification. Kemnitius is Chemnitz; the printed medical locators and the Bale reference await bibliographical collation.

4720.The couplet means that Burton will stop lest he be taken as a particular woman’s advocate. Its closing words adapt Horace, Satires 1.1.120–21, where the speaker ends lest he seem to have plundered Crispinus’s writings. The widow-and-virgin wording is not in those Horatian lines; its immediate source is unresolved. The modern version preserves two lines without forcing rhyme.

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.