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 MelancholySubsection 6 Remedies for Accompanying Symptoms: To Bring Sleep, and Against…

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 655 of 1495

Subsection 6 Remedies for Accompanying Symptoms: To Bring Sleep, and Against…

Book Mode

1651 English

397–398

Crato prescribes the condite fruit of wild rose, to a nobleman his Patient to be taken before dinner or supper, to the quantity of a chestnut. It is made of sugar, as that of Quinces. The decoction of the roots of sowthistle before meat by the same author is much approved. To eat of a baked Apple some advise, or of a preserved Quince, Commin seed prepared with meat in stead of salt, to keep down fumes: not to study or to be intensive after meals.

℞. Nucleorum persic. seminis melonum ana unc. ℈ ß aquæ fragrorum l. ij. misce, utatur mane.

To apply cupping glasses to the shoulders is very good. For the other kinde of ruddiness which is setled in the face with pimples, &c. because it pertains not to my subject, I will not meddle with it. I refer you to Crato’s Counsels, Arnoldus lib. 1. breviar. cap. 39. I. Rulande, Peter Forestus de Fuco, lib. 31. obser. 2. To Platerus, Mercurialis, Ulmus, Randolettius, Heurnius, Menadous, and others that have written largely of it.

Those other grievances and symptomes of headach, palpitation of heart, Vertigo, deliquium &c. which trouble many melancholy men, because they are copiously handled apart in every Physician, I do voluntarily omit.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 6 Remedies for Accompanying Symptoms: To Bring Sleep, and Against…

p. 655

Crato prescribes preserved wild rose fruit for a nobleman, his patient: an amount the size of a chestnut, taken before dinner or supper. It is made with sugar, as preserved quince is. The same author highly recommends a decoction of sow-thistle roots before a meal. Some advise eating baked apple or preserved quince, or using prepared cumin seed with food instead of salt, to keep down vapours; and avoiding study or intense concentration after meals.

Take half an ounce each of peach kernels and melon seeds, and two pounds of strawberry water. Mix; use in the morning.

Applying cupping glasses to the shoulders is very good. As for the other kind of redness, which is permanently settled in the face with pimples and so on, I will not discuss it, since it falls outside my subject. I refer you to Crato’s Consultations; Arnoldus, Breviary, book 1, chapter 39; I. Rulande; Peter Forestus, On Cosmetics, book 31, observation 2; Plater, Mercurialis, Ulmus, Randolettius, Heurnius, Menadous, and others who have written extensively about it.

I deliberately omit those other afflictions and symptoms—headache, palpitation of the heart, dizziness, fainting and so forth—which trouble many melancholic people, because every medical writer discusses them separately at length.

8027.The fruit of the wild rose is the rose hip. “Condite” means preserved, here with sugar; “intensive” means intensely occupied or mentally absorbed. The supposed rising “fumes” belong to Burton’s account of digestion.

8028.The source prints ana unc. followed by a sign read here as ℈ and ß: an ounce abbreviation apparently followed by a scruple sign and “half.” The modern half-ounce rendering follows the explicit unc. but remains tentative; the intended quantity cannot be established securely from this scan. The spelling fragrorum is retained on the left; the intended strawberry water is clear from the surrounding passage.

8030.De Fuco means “On Cosmetics” or “On Cosmetic Colouring.” Burton distinguishes persistent facial redness and pimples from the episodic flushing under discussion. The printed author forms and detailed medical references are retained pending collation.

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.