The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

Explore the Lexicon

The Anatomy of MelancholyMember 3. Air Corrected. With a Digression on Air.

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 469 of 1495

Member 3. Air Corrected. With a Digression on Air.

Book Mode

1651 English

254

But hoc posito, to grant this their tenent of the earths motion: If the earth move, it is a Planet, & shines to them in the Moon, & to the other Planetary inhabitants, as the Moon and they do to us upon the earth: but shine she doth, as Galilie, Kepler, & others prove,

& then per consequens, the rest of the Planets are inhabited, as well as the Moon, which he grants in his dissertation with Galilies Nuncius Sidereus, that there be Ioviall and Saturn Inhabitants, &c. & those severall Planets have their severall Moons about them, as the earth hath hers, as Galileus hath already evinced by his glasses:

four about Iupiter, two about Saturne (though Sitius the Florentine, Fortunius Licetus, and Iul. Cæsar le Galla cavill at it) yet Kepler, the Emperours Mathematician, confirmes out of his experience, that he saw as much by the same help, & more about Mars, Venus; & the rest they hope to find out, peradventure even amongst the fixed stars, which Brunus and Brutius have already averred.

Then (I say) the earth and they be Planets alike, inhabited alike, moved about the Sun, the common Center of the World alike, and it may be those two green children which Nubrigensis speakes of in his time, that fell from Heaven, came from thence; and that famous stone that fell from heaven in Aristotles time, olymp. 84. anno tertio, ad Capuæ Fluenta, recorded by Laertius and others, or Ancile or buckler in Numa’s time recorded by Festus.

We may likewise inferre with Campanella and Brunus, that which Pythagoras, Aristarchus Samius, Heraclitus, Epicurus, Melissus, Democritus, Leucippus maintained in their ages, there be infinite Worlds, and infinite earths or systemes, in infinito æthere, which Eusebius collects out of their tenents, because infinite stars, and planets like unto this of ours, which some stick not still to maintain and publikely defend, sperabundus expecto innumerabilium mundorum in æternitate perambulationem, &c. (Nic. Hill. Londinensis philos. Epicur.)

For if the Firmament be of such an incomparable bigness, as these Copernicall Giants will have it, infinitum, aut infinito proximum, so vast and full of innumerable stars, as being infinite in extent, one above another, some higher, some lower, some neerer, some farther off, and so far asunder, and those so huge and great:

5524.BurtonPrinted page 254, m: “Luna circumterrestris Planeta quum sit, consentaneum est esse in Lunâ viventes creaturas, & singulis Planetarum globis sui serviunt circulatores, ex qua consideratione, de eorum incolis summâ probabilitate concludimus, quod & Tychoni Braheo, è solâ consideratione vastitatis eorum visum fuit. Kepl. dissert. cum nun. syd. f. 29.” Since the moon is a planet circling the earth, it is reasonable that there should be living creatures on the moon; and each planetary globe is served by its own orbiting bodies. From this consideration we conclude with the greatest probability that they have inhabitants; Tycho Brahe thought so too, merely from considering their vastness. Kepler, Discussion with the Starry Messenger, folio 29.

5526.BurtonPrinted page 254, n: “Temperare non possum quin ex inventis tuis hoc moneam, veri non absimile, non tam in Lunâ, sed etiam in Iove, & reliquis Planetis incolas esse. Kepl. fo. 26. Si non sint accolæ in Iovis globo, qui notent admirandam hanc varietatem oculis, cui bono quatuor illi Planetæ Iovem circumcursitant?” I cannot refrain from pointing out, on the basis of your discoveries, that it is not unlike the truth that there are inhabitants not so much on the moon as on Jupiter and the other planets. Kepler, folio 26. If there are no dwellers on Jupiter’s globe to observe this marvellous variety with their eyes, for whose benefit do those four planets circle Jupiter?

5528.BurtonPrinted page 254, * at four: “Some of those above Iupiter I have seen my self by the help of a glass 8 foot long.” Burton’s own report of telescopic observation.

5530.BurtonPrinted page 254, †: “Rerum Angl. l. 1. c. 27. de viridibus pueris.” History of English Affairs, book 1, chapter 27, on the green children.

5532.BurtonPrinted page 254, o: “Infiniti alii mundi, vel ut Brunus, terræ huic nostræ similes.” Infinite other worlds, or, as Bruno says, earths like this one of ours.

5533.BurtonPrinted page 254, * at Eusebius: “Libro Cont. philos. cap. 29.” Book against the philosophers, chapter 29. The abbreviated work title remains unresolved.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Member 3. Air Corrected. With a Digression on Air.

p. 469

But “assuming this,” let us grant their doctrine of the earth’s motion. If the earth moves, it is a planet and shines for those on the moon and for the other planetary inhabitants, just as the moon and they shine for us on earth. And shine it does, as Galileo, Kepler, and others prove.

Then, consequently, the rest of the planets are inhabited, as well as the moon. Kepler grants in his discussion with Galileo’s Starry Messenger “that there are inhabitants of Jupiter and Saturn,” and so on; and those several planets have their several moons around them, as the earth has hers, as Galileo has already demonstrated with his telescopes.

Four around Jupiter, two around Saturn—though Sitius the Florentine, Fortunio Liceti, and Giulio Cesare La Galla find fault with it. Yet Kepler, the emperor’s mathematician, confirms from his own experience that he saw as much with the same aid, and more around Mars and Venus. They hope to discover the rest, perhaps even among the fixed stars, as Bruno and Brutius have already asserted.

Then, I say, the earth and they are alike planets, alike inhabited, and alike moved around the sun, the common centre of the world. Perhaps those two green children who, according to William of Newburgh, fell from heaven in his time came from there; and so did that famous stone which fell from heaven in Aristotle’s time, in the third year of the eighty-fourth Olympiad, beside the streams of Capua, as recorded by Laertius and others; or the ancile, the shield in Numa’s time recorded by Festus.

We may likewise infer with Campanella and Bruno what Pythagoras, Aristarchus of Samos, Heraclitus, Epicurus, Melissus, Democritus, and Leucippus maintained in their respective ages: there are infinite worlds, infinite earths or systems “in infinite aether.” Eusebius gathers this from their doctrines, because there are infinite stars and planets like this one of ours. Some still do not hesitate to maintain and publicly defend it: “Full of hope, I look forward to wandering through innumerable worlds in eternity,” and so on. Nicholas Hill of London, Epicurean Philosophy.

For if the firmament is of such incomparable size as these Copernican giants would have it, “infinite, or approaching infinity,” so vast and full of innumerable stars, infinite in extent, one above another, some higher, some lower, some nearer, some farther off, so widely separated, and themselves so enormous—

5525.The shine of the earth does not by itself establish inhabitants on other worlds. Burton moves from the analogy between luminous bodies to a speculative conclusion. His long Kepler margin combines separate arguments rather than reproducing one continuous passage: comparison with Dissertatio confirms the moon, orbiting bodies, inhabitants and Tycho themes, but not the margin as a verbatim quotation.

5527.In the Dissertatio, Kepler entertains inhabitants of the moon and Jupiter; non tantum means “not only,” whereas Burton’s non tam means “not so much.” The later question about the use of Jupiter’s four companions argues from their supposed purpose, not from observed inhabitants. Burton combines excerpts and extends the statement to Saturn and other planets. His wording is preserved. The comparison uses the Latin text edited by Favaro; Burton’s folio references and immediate edition remain unverified.

5529.Galileo observed Jupiter’s four large moons. The two apparent companions of Saturn were unresolved parts of its rings, not two detected moons. In the opening of his Dissertatio, Kepler speculates about companions of Mars and Venus before receiving Galileo’s book and later hopes to discover them; he does not there report observing them. Burton’s claim of observation is preserved but not corroborated by that passage. Brutius is left unidentified. The margin is notable for Burton’s first-person claim to have seen Jovian satellites through an eight-foot telescope.

5531.Nubrigensis is William of Newburgh. History I.27, in Hamilton’s Latin edition (1856), I, pp. 73–75, says the children emerged from pits at Woolpit. They report coming from the land of Saint Martin and cannot explain how they arrived. This supplies no fall from heaven; Burton’s celestial speculation remains his own. Diogenes Laertius II.10–12 connects the Aegospotami stone with Anaxagoras, unlike Burton’s Aristotle, Capua and Olympiad details. The ancile is Numa’s legendary sacred shield; the Festus passage remains uncollated.

5534.Brunus is Giordano Bruno. Burton’s list compresses ancient positions on worlds that differ substantially and should not be accepted as a uniform doctrine. His abbreviated title for Eusebius is not securely resolved. Nicholas Hill’s wording and source title await direct collation; the Latin is translated afresh here.

5535.“Copernican giants” is Burton’s expansive, playful label. An indefinitely great universe and a strictly infinite one are not the same claim; the quoted Latin itself preserves the alternative. The sentence continues into the following aligned unit.

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.