A third volume of text and two volumes of commentary will follow. The anatomy of melancholy audiobook by robert burton. What it is, with all the kinds, causes, symptomes, prognostickes, and seuerall cures of it. The anatomy of melancholy kindle edition by burton, robert. The anatomy of melancholy, which is presented as a frayed patchwork of texts, is the obvious work of a bibliophile, less original conception than inspired collage. Free download or read online the anatomy of melancholy pdf epub book. Download pdf the anatomy of melancholy book full free. Pdf the anatomy of melancholy download full pdf book download. Can the work of a 17thcentury scholar help us understand. The anatomy of melancholy appeared in five editions during the authors lifetime and has been reprinted countless times since. The nook book ebook of the the anatomy of melancholy. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 1424 pages and is available in paperback format. This is the third and final text volume of the clarendon edition of robert burtons the anatomy of melancholy.
The anatomy of melancholy is one of the most remarkable books ever written. The opening letter, a foreword to the reader, is well known for its satirical tone. The anatomy of melancholy, vvhat it is, vvith all the. It opens and cuts up the condition of melancholy, or depression as we know it today. Buy the anatomy of melancholy nyrb classics new ed by robert burton isbn. Burtons anatomy of melancholy is a valuable book, said dr. This is the third edition 1628 of burtons increasingly comprehensive text, first published in 1621 and expanded from 1624 to 1651. One of the major documents of modern european civilization, robert burtons astounding compendium, a survey of melancholy in all its myriad forms, has invited nothing but superlatives since its publication in the seventeenth century. The anatomy of melancholy book club bethlem museum of. The book was published in multiple languages including english language, consists of 1424 pages and is available in paperback format.
The first edition of this novel was published in 1621, and was written by robert burton. The essential anatomy of melancholy by robert burton. In 1621 the priest and scholar robert burton published a book quite unlike any other. Burton immediately began revising the text although never to take material away, only to add and extend. The anatomy of melancholy is a book by robert burton, first published in 1621, but republished five more times over the next seventeen years with massive alterations and expansions. Ostensibly an english churchman and scholar robert burton 15761639 was a passionate student of medicine, history, literature, and science. The anatomy of melancholy, in all of its distracting confusion, is finally something of a mercy, and it is the only mercy to be found within its confines. The anatomy of melancholy brings together almost two thousand years of scholarship, from ancient greek philosophy to seventeenthcentury medicine.
Apr 10, 2012 the anatomy of melancholy is, without a doubt, the best book ever written, bar none. The first considers the nature, symptoms and diverse causes of melancholy. He grew up in ohio and is a former professor of philosophy at washington university. The anatomy of melancholy by robert burton free at loyal books. Ostensibly an elaborately systematized medical treatise dealing with various morbid mental states their causes, symptoms, and cures the anatomy is much more. The anatomy of melancholy goes quite beyond the titled gloominess to spread melancholy onto a compendium of human conditions, complete with symptoms, prognostics and the various cures ever known in the western world. Burton believed that reading was a cure for melancholy, and so the book itself one of the most unique and uncategorisable works of all time can be seen as a. The immensely widely read robert burton compiled it from the books that existed in a 17thcentury library in order to explain and account for all human emotion and thought.
He served as a vicar in oxford and then as the rector of seagrave. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle. Pdf the anatomy of melancholy download full pdf book. My book was coming out in the united states, and a friend threw a party on october 11th. His famous work, the anatomy of melancholy, is a treasure trove of esoteric learning, questionable conjectures and rambling diversions across a. Pdf the anatomy of melancholy book by robert burton free. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. The anatomy of melancholy by robert burton, 9780940322660, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. The anatomy of melancholy by robert burton alibris. The anatomy of melancholy is, quite selfconsciously, the book to end all books. Anatomy melancholy by robert burton, first edition abebooks.
The book to end all books nicholas lezard celebrates the anatomy of melancholy by robert burton, a 17thcentury compendium of human thought that is funnier than it sounds nicholas lezard. Burtons anatomy of melancholy, 1628 the british library. On its surface, the book is a medical textbook in which burton applies his large and varied learning in the scholastic manner to the subject of melancholia which includes what is now termed clinical depression. Postcard of the anatomy of melancholy by robert burton. Free download of the anatomy of melancholy by robert burton. The anatomy of melancholy robert burton oxford university. This is part of my ongoing project to read maximalist fiction really, to read the longest, most complex books i can find. What it is, with all the kinds, causes, symptoms, prognostics, and several cures of it. A checklist of a part of the collection in memory of sarah bixby smith 18711935. The main characters of this philosophy, psychology story are.
Sections of the anatomy of melancholy are famous for various reasons. Burtons anatomy of melancholy, a book once the favourite of the learned and the witty, and a source of surreptitious learning, though written on a regular plan, consists chiefly of quotations. The anatomy of melancholy is an especially lengthy book, the first edition being a single quarto volume nearly 900 pages long. Philosophically, medicinally, historically opened and cut vp, by democritus iunior. The anatomy of melancholy, robert burton, 1621 ad this great book was destined to become the most frequently reprinted psychiatric text. Aug 17, 2001 the anatomy of melancholy by robert burton nyrb classics.
The book went through five more editions before his death in 1640. The anatomy of melancholy of the anatomy of melancholy are famous for various reasons. The anatomy of melancholy by robert burton loyal books. The anatomy of melancholy by robert burton goodreads. Lewellyn powys called it the greatest work of prose of the greatest period of english prose. The opening letter, a foreword to the reader, is well known for its satirical tone and its catalog of the follies of humanity. A brilliant, witty, insightful book on the nature and causes of depression, written in the early 17th century. With all the kinds, causes, symptoms, prognostics, and several cures of it. The anatomy of melancholy the original classic edition.
The anatomy of melancholy, one of the richest, most inexhaustible books in the english language. It is a labyrinth of arcane scholarship, obscure quotation, medical ephemera, and earthy shrewdness, all of it tied up with determining the root causes of melancholy. This is the first of five volumes that will comprise the first authoritative modern edition of burtons great work. Buy the anatomy of melancholy by robert burton online at alibris. A new penguin classics edition of burtons masterpiece ostensibly a guidebook to melancholia or depression, in reality an allencompassing examination of the human condition. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. I have finally finished a careful reading of robert burtons anatomy of melancholy, along with a wonderful book by ruth fox, the tangled chain. The anatomy of melancholy, published in 1621, was immediately successful and the subject of close discussion among burtons peers.
Fish, in selfconsuming artifacts i write of melancholy, by being busy to avoid melancholy, explained robert burton, author of that rollicking compendium the anatomy of. It has jokes, satires, wonderfully excessive lists, more learning than a set of encyclopedias, and more. A postcard of the cover of the book the anatomy of melancholy by robert burton penguin classics paperback edition. Burtons anatomy of melancholy was a dissection performed not with a scalpel, but by the bookor, to be more precise, with hundreds of books. The first edition of the novel was published in 1621, and was written by robert burton. In a time of war, plague and pestilence, the seventeenth century author robert burton identified melancholy as the greatest threat to the health of the nation. The anatomy of melancholy is, without a doubt, the best book ever written, bar none. The anatomy of melancholy title page wellcome l0060696. One of the major documents of modern european civilizati. May 12, 2011 melvyn bragg and his guests discuss robert burtons masterpiece the anatomy of melancholy. The structure of disorder in the anatomy of melancholy. The anatomy concludes with an extensive index which, many years later, the new york times book robwrt called a readerly pleasure in itself 5. Many agree with claudiuss claim that theres something in hamlets soul which seems to be ruled by melancholy 3. The text is divided into three major sections plus an introduction, the whole written in burtons sprawling style.
It is, rather, robert burtons view of mankind and mankinds condition. The anatomy of melancholy is a book by robert burton, first published in 1621. He was also a witty, pedantic, and eloquent genius, who devoted the major part of his life to writing the anatomy of melancholy, one of the richest, most inexhaustible books in the english language. Early editions are now in the, with several available in their entirety from a number of online sources such as. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. The anatomy of melancholy available for download and read online in other formats. One of the major documents of modern european civilization, robert burtons astounding compendium, a survey of melancholy in all its myriad. Jan 01, 2002 she published her first short story collection, the melancholy of anatomy, in 2002. It opens and cuts up the condition of melancholy, or depression as we know it today, and in doing so. Being extracts from the anatomy of melancholy chosen to interest the psychologist in every man by burton, robert and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. First published in 1621, and hardly ever out of print since, it is a huge, varied, idiosyncratic, entertaining and learned survey of the experience of melancholy, seen from just. No one really reads the anatomy of melancholy from stem to stern.
Robert burtons astounding compendium, a survey of melancholy in all its myriad forms, has invited nothing but superlatives since its publication in the seventeenth century. Jacksons first novel, half life, was shelley jackson is an american writer and artist known for her crossgenre experiments, including her hyperfiction, patchwork girl 1995. It may properly be called the first psychiatric cyclopaedia for nearly one thousand authors are cited, about half of them medical. With their several sections, members, and subsections, philosophically, medically, historically opened and cut up. Johnson said, was the only book that ever took him out of bed two hours sooner than he wished to rise. To the contemporary reader, the anatomy of melancholy is less a work of humour, more a bizarre masterpiece of late renaissance english. The anatomy of melancholy volume ii by robert burton. It contains the third partition, the table, edited from 16241651 editions, textual apparatus, and an index of persons. Whistler the recorder of oxford i give twenty shillings to all my fellow students mrs of arts a book in fol. It was published in 2019 by penguin books as part of the 100 postcards from austen to zola postcard set. The cover art is from an engraving by christof le blon. First published in 1621, and hardly ever out of print since, it is a huge, varied, idiosyncratic, entertaining and learned survey of the experience of melancholy, seen from just about every possible angle that could be imagined.
Bbc radio 4 in our time, the anatomy of melancholy. One jumps in and begins dog paddling, floating, diving, and surfing, because this book is a sum of a lifes learning. Media in category the anatomy of melancholy book the following 11 files are in this category, out of 11 total. The anatomy of melancholy is the vast and only work by robert burton, the 17thcentury english priest and scholar. Apr 28, 2020 the book sets this pessimism spinning like a top, whirling delightedly over local resentments and cosmic griefs alike. Philosophically, medicinally, historically, opened and cut up is a book by robert burton, first published in 1621, but. The anatomy of melancholy was extensively praised and almost as widely read as the bible. This page was last edited on 25 decemberat this article is about the book by robert burton. This awesome book ready for download, you can get this book now for free. The anatomy of melancholy by robert burton free ebook. Although presented as a medical text, the anatomy of melancholy is as much a sui generis work of literature as it is a scientific or philosophical text, and burton addresses far more than his stated subject. Apr 04, 2018 the anatomy of melancholy, one of the richest, most inexhaustible books in the english language. Read a full online version of a later edition of the anatomy of melancholy.
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