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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 MelancholyMember 2 Bodily Deformity, Sickness, Low Birth, and Particular Discontents

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Facing Pages · Branch 543 of 1495

Member 2 Bodily Deformity, Sickness, Low Birth, and Particular Discontents

Book Mode

1651 English

312–313–313

Angelus Politianus had a tetter in his nose continually running, fulsome in company, yet no man so eloquent and pleasing in his works. Æsope was crooked, Socrates pur-blinde, long-legged, hairy; Democritus withered, Seneca lean and harsh, ugly to behold, yet shew me so many flourishing wits, such divine spirits: Horace a little blear-eyed contemptible fellow, yet who so Sententious and wise? Marcilius Ficinus, Faber Stapulensis, a couple of dwarfes, Melancthon a short hard favoured man, parvus erat, sed magnus erat, &c. yet of incomparable parts all three.

Ignatius Loiola the founder of the Jesuits, by reason of an hurt he received in his leg, at the siege of Pampelona the chief town of Navarre in Spaine, unfit for wars and lesse serviceable at court, upon that accident betook himself to his beads, and by those means got more honour then ever he should have done with the use of his limbs, and propernes of person: Vulnus non penetrat animum, a wound hurts not the soul.

Galba the emperour was crook backed, Epictetus lame; that great Alexander a little man of stature; Augustus Cæsar of the same pitch: Agesilaus despicabili formâ; Boccharis a most deformed prince as ever Egypt had, yet as Diodorus Siculus records of him, in wisdome and knowledge far beyond his predecessours.

A. Dom. 1306. Vladislaus Cubitalis that pigmy king of Poland reigned and fought more victorious battels, then any of his long-shanked predecessours. Nullam virtus respuit staturam, Vertue refuseth no stature; and commonly your great vast bodies, & fine features, are sottish, dull, and leaden spirits.

What’s in them? Quid nisi pondus iners stolidaque ferocia mentis, What in Osus and Ephialtes (Neptunes sons in Homer) nine akers long?

Qui ut magnus Orion, Cum pedes incedit, medii per maxima Nerei Stagna, viam findens humero supereminet undas,

What in Maximinus, Ajax, Caligula, and the rest of those great Zanzummins, or giganticall Anakims, heavie, vast, barbarous lubbers?

—— si membra tibi dant grandia Parcæ, Mentis eges?

Their body, saith Lemnius, is a burden to them, and their spirits not so lively, nor they so erect and merry: Non est in magno corpore mica salis: a little diamond is more worth then a rocky mountain:

Which made Alexander Aphrodiseus positively conclude, The lesser, the wiser, because the soul was more contracted in such a body. Let Bodine in his 5. c. method. hist. plead the rest: the lesser they are, as in Asia, Greece, they have generally the finest wits.

6483.BurtonPrinted page 312, asterisk: “Joachimus Camerarius vit. ejus.” Joachim Camerarius, his Life.

6485.BurtonPrinted page 313, dagger: “Riber. vit. ejus.” Ribera, his Life; the abbreviated attribution is retained for further identification.

6486.BurtonPrinted page 313, d: “Macrobius.” Macrobius; no work or passage is specified.

6488.BurtonPrinted page 313, asterisk: “Sueton, c. 7. 9.” Suetonius, chapter 7.9, as printed; compare Augustus 79.

6489.BurtonPrinted page 313, dagger: “Lib. 1. Corpore exili & despecto, sed ingenio & prudentia longe ante se reges cæteros præveniens.” Book 1: slight and unimpressive in body, but in intelligence and practical wisdom far surpassing the other kings before him.

6491.BurtonPrinted page 313, e: “Alexander Gaguinus hist. Poloniæ. Corpore parvus eram, cubito vix altior uno, Sed tamen in parvo corpore magnus eram.” Alexander Guagnini, History of Poland: I was small in body, scarcely taller than a single cubit; yet in that small body I was great.

6493.BurtonPrinted page 313, asterisk: “Ovid.” Ovid; compare Halieutica 59.

6495.BurtonPrinted page 313, asterisk: “Virg. Ænei. 10.” Virgil, Aeneid 10.

6498.BurtonPrinted page 313, f: “Lib. 2. cap. 20. oneri est illis corporis moles, & spiritus minus vividi.” Book 2, chapter 20: their bodily bulk is a burden to them, and their spirits are less lively.

6500.BurtonPrinted page 313, dagger: “Corpore breves prudentiores quum coarctata sit anima. Ingenio pollet cui vim natura negavit.” Those short in body are wiser, since the soul is compressed. He excels in intelligence to whom nature denied strength.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Member 2 Bodily Deformity, Sickness, Low Birth, and Particular Discontents

p. 543

Angelo Poliziano had a skin eruption in his nose that continually discharged and made his company offensive; yet no one was more eloquent or pleasing in his works. Aesop was crooked; Socrates short-sighted, long-legged, and hairy; Democritus shrivelled; Seneca thin, rough-featured, and ugly to look at. Yet show me as many brilliant minds, such inspired spirits! Horace was a little, bleary-eyed, contemptible fellow, yet who was more full of wise sayings? Marsilio Ficino and Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples were a pair of dwarfs; Melanchthon was short and ill-favoured—“he was small, but he was great,” and so on—yet all three possessed incomparable abilities.

Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, was wounded in the leg at the siege of Pamplona, the chief town of Navarre in Spain. Unfit for war and less useful at court, he turned after that accident to his prayer beads. By doing so he gained more honour than he ever would have gained through the use of his limbs and his handsome appearance. “A wound does not penetrate the soul”: a wound does not hurt the soul.

The emperor Galba had a crooked back; Epictetus was lame; Alexander the Great was small in stature; Augustus Caesar was of the same height. Agesilaus had an unimpressive appearance. Boccharis was as misshapen a prince as Egypt ever had, yet, as Diodorus Siculus records, he far surpassed his predecessors in wisdom and knowledge.

In AD 1306 Vladislaus Cubitalis, that tiny king of Poland, reigned and fought more victorious battles than any of his long-legged predecessors. “Virtue rejects no stature”: virtue refuses no stature. Commonly, those great hulking bodies and fine features house foolish, dull, leaden spirits.

What is in them? “What but sluggish bulk and the fierceness of a foolish mind?” What was in Osus and Ephialtes, Neptune’s sons in Homer, nine acres tall?

Who, like great Orion, When he walks through the deepest waters of Nereus, Cleaving a path, towers shoulder-high above the waves,

What was in Maximinus, Ajax, Caligula, and the rest of those great Zanzummins or gigantic Anakims, heavy, enormous, uncouth louts?

If the Fates give you enormous limbs, Do you lack intelligence?

Their body, says Lemnius, is a burden to them; their spirits are less lively, and they are less alert and cheerful. “There is not a grain of wit in that great body.” A little diamond is worth more than a rocky mountain.

This made Alexander of Aphrodisias conclude positively: the smaller the person, the wiser, because the soul is more concentrated in such a body. Let Bodin, in chapter 5 of his Method of History, argue the rest. The smaller people are, as in Asia and Greece, the finer their minds generally are.

6484.“Tetter” is an old term for a skin eruption, without a precise modern diagnosis; “fulsome” means offensive or repulsive, and “hard favoured” means ill-favoured in appearance. The names are Angelo Poliziano, Marsilio Ficino, Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples, and Philipp Melanchthon. “Parts” means abilities; “all three” refers to Ficino, Lefèvre, and Melanchthon. The biographical descriptions and Camerarius reference await detailed collation.

6487.“Betook himself to his beads” means turning to prayer or devotional life; “propernes of person” means handsome appearance. The Latin maxim and Burton’s English gloss are both retained in modern form. The abbreviated Ribera and Macrobius references have not yet been securely located.

6490.“Pitch” means height. Suetonius, Augustus 79, calls Augustus short, though proportionate; he does not there equate his height with Alexander’s. Diodorus 1.65.1 contrasts Bocchoris’s unimpressive appearance with exceptional sagacity. The comparison supports Burton’s contrast, without establishing his stronger physical description or the whole catalogue. Agesilaus’s Latin description means unattractive in appearance. These are received examples, not independently verified medical diagnoses.

6492.Vladislaus Cubitalis is the king’s Latin name, literally Vladislaus the Cubit-high; the margin plays on small stature and greatness. The date 1306 and the claim about his victories are retained as printed. The next sentence turns from defending short stature to a sweeping attack on large bodies.

6494.The Ovidian line occurs in Halieutica 59, describing a bear. Burton applies it to large-bodied people; his stolidaque differs from the consulted stolidæque. Osus is the form printed for the giant generally called Otus; the extraordinary measure “nine acres” is also retained rather than silently corrected.

6496.Compare Virgil, Aeneid 10.763–765, the comparison of Mezentius to Orion. Burton prints Qui ut for Virgil’s quam and findens for scindens. Nereus, a sea-god, stands for the sea. The three displayed lines follow Burton’s text and lineation.

6497.The Zanzummins and Anakims are biblical giant peoples. Burton combines them with classical figures to ridicule impressive bulk without corresponding intelligence. “Lubbers” means clumsy or uncouth louts; the following verse invokes the Fates who allot human lives.

6499.Compare Catullus 86.4, which denies a grain of charm or wit to a large body. Burton adapts that line to intelligence. “Spirits” here belongs to early modern accounts of bodily and mental animation; “erect” means alert or vigorous.

6501.Alexander of Aphrodisias was an interpreter of Aristotle; Bodin’s work is his Method for the Easy Comprehension of History. The compression of the soul and the geographical generalization are arguments reported by Burton. Neither is silently recast as a modern explanation of intelligence.

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.