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 MelancholyResist the Beginnings, Avoid Occasions, Change One’s Location; Fair and Foul…

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

1651 English Page · Branch 845 of 1495

Resist the Beginnings, Avoid Occasions, Change One’s Location; Fair and Foul…

Book Mode

1651 English

555

Pausanias in Eliacis, saith, that therefore one Cupid was painted to contend with another, and to take the Garland from him, because one love drives out another.

Alterius vires subtrahit alter amor.

and Tully 3. nat. deor. disputing with C. Cotta, makes mention of three several Cupids, all differing in office.

Felix Plater in the first book of his observations, boasts how he cured a widower in Basil, a Patient of his, by this stratagem alone, that doted upon a poor servant his maid, when friends, children, no perswasion could serve to alienate his mind: they motioned him to another honest mans daughter in the Town, whom he loved, and lived with, long after, abhorring the very name and sight of the first.

After the death of Lucretia, Eurialus would admit of no comfort, till the Emperour Sigismond married him to a noble Lady of his Court, and so in short space he was freed.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Resist the Beginnings, Avoid Occasions, Change One’s Location; Fair and Foul…

p. 845

Pausanias, in his account of Elis, says that this is why one Cupid was depicted contending with another and taking the garland from him: because one love drives out another.

One love takes away another’s strength.

And Cicero, in book 3 of On the Nature of the Gods, debating with Gaius Cotta, mentions three separate Cupids, each with a different function.

Felix Plater, in the first book of his Observations, boasts that by this stratagem alone he cured a patient, a widower in Basel, who was infatuated with a poor woman employed as his maid. Friends, children and all persuasion had failed to turn his mind away. They proposed to him the daughter of another respectable man in the town; he loved her and lived with her long afterwards, detesting the very name and sight of the first woman.

After Lucretia’s death, Euryalus would accept no comfort until the Emperor Sigismund married him to a noble lady of his court; then, in a short time, he was freed from his sorrow.

10683.Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.23.5, describes a relief of Love and Love Returned, with the latter trying to take a palm-branch from the former. Burton says “painted” and “Garland” and gives his own explanation in terms of one love displacing another. Eliacis means the account of Elis.

10685.Ovid, Remedies for Love 444. This line belongs to the same passage as the advice to keep two mistresses and the image of a river divided into channels.

10686.Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 3.60, lists three Cupids with different parentages, the third identified as Anteros. The list occurs in Cotta’s speech. Burton’s description “disputing with C. Cotta” and his emphasis on different functions are retained as his framing.

10687.Basil is Basel. “Motioned him to” means proposed or directed his attention to a match; “honest” here means respectable. Plater’s report of the widower’s cure is preserved as a historical claim; the case itself remains uncollated.

10689.The ending of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini’s History of Two Lovers confirms Euryalus mourning Lucretia until the emperor marries him to a beautiful, chaste and prudent virgin of ducal descent. Burton’s margin condenses this sentence; his “of his Court” and “in short space” are not specified there. The narrative then warns against love’s bitter outcome. Burton uses the marriage as an example of recovery.

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.