The anatomy of melancholy : what it is, with all the kinds auses, symptomes, prognostickes, & seuerall cures of it, in three partitions, with their severall sections, members, & subsections, philosophically, medicinally, historically opened & cut up / By Democritus Junior [i.e. Robert Burton]. With a satyricall preface conducing to the following discourse.

Robert Burton

Date:: 1676

Credit: The anatomy of melancholy : what it is, with all the kinds auses, symptomes, prognostickes, & seuerall cures of it, in three partitions, with their severall sections, members, & subsections, philosophically, medicinally, historically opened & cut up / By Democritus Junior [i.e. Robert Burton]. With a satyricall preface conducing to the following discourse. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$T u s to the ^ader. z Ut Vt'ld- tores feram e vtpglo imprcffo-, ^ virm joi- ptiuncuU. Lipf, b Hor. c Hor. * Antrperp. jol. i6c']. d MwsUts. e L/ppus. f Hor. g Fitr/ non pot ell-, lit quod quijq'j cogltat,di- cat tin us, Aturnus. nec imus, I am none of the beft, I _am none of the meaneft of you. As I am an inch, or fo many feet, fo many parafanges, after him or him, I may be peradventure an ace before thee. Be it therefore as it is, well or ill, I have affayed, put my felf upon the ftage,I muft abide the cenfure, I may not efcapeit< It is mofttruc, flylns vinmarguit, our ftyle be- wrayes us, and as ® hunters find their game by the trace, fo is a mans^f??»<jdefcried by his ViQxkSj melihs ex ferwone quamlinea- wentis, de woribus hominuryi jndic^wustwas old Caro's rule. I have laid my felf open ( I know it) in this Treatife, turned mine infide outward, Ilhallbe cenfured, I doubt not, for to fay truth with Erafmus, nihil moroftm homi- mm jndiciis^ there's nought fo pievilB as mens judgements, yet this is fome comfort, ut pala^ tayjic jadiciay our cenfures are as various as our palats. ^ T'res fnihi conviva p/ope dijfentlye ‘videntuT Tofcentes vario multum diver fa palato^ cP'C* Our writings are as fo many dimes, our ri¬ ders guefts, or books like beauty, that which one admires, another rejefts ; fo are we ap¬ proved as mens fancies are inclined. Pro captH leUoris hahent fnafata llhelli. That which is raoft pleafing to one is amara- CHm fai, moftharlh to another. Qnot homi¬ nes^ tot fententie, fo many men, fo many minds: that which thou condemneft he com¬ mends. ^ ^od pet is, idfane eflinvifam acidnwque duo- bus. He refpefts matter, t’ mart wholly for words, he loves a loofe and free ftile, ihou art all for neat compofition, ftrong lines, hyperboles, al¬ legories ^ he defires a fine frontifpiece, enticing pi(fi:ures, fuch as Huron. * Natali the Jefuit hath cut to the Dominicals, to draw on the Rea¬ ders attention , which thou rejedeft •, that which one admires, another explodes as moft abfurd and ridiculous. If it be not point-blank to his humour, his method, his conceit, quid for fan omifum, quod is animo concept- rit, fi qu£ dildio, &c. If ought be omitted , or add.d, which he likes, or diflikes, thou art mancipium paiic^ leHionis, an ideot, an afs, nullus es , or plagiarius, a trifler, a trivant, thou art an idle fellow •, or elfe ’tis a thing of rneer induftry, a colledion without wit or in¬ vention, a very toy. Facilta fic putant om- nesqud jam fatda, nec de falebris cogitant, ubi via flrata, fo men are valued, their labours vilified by fellows of no worth themfelves • as tilings of nought, who could not have done as much? unufquifque abundat fen ft fno, every man abounds in his own fenfe ; and whileft each particular party is fo affeded,how Ihould one pleafe all ? Quid dem, quid non dem ? Renuis tu quod ju- bet tile. How (hall I hope to exprefs my felf to each mans humor and g conceit, or to give fatisfa- dion to all ? Some underftand. too little, fome too much, jQ^i fmiliter in legendos Itbros, at- que in falutandos homines irruunt, non cogi- tantesquales, fed quibus veflibus induti fmt, as ^ Auflin obferves, not regarding what, but h Lib. i, who write, ^ or exin habet authoris celebritas, ^^dcap. not valuing the mettal, but the damp that isi*p- ^ on it, Cantharum ajpiciunt, non quid in to. If he be not rich, in great place, polite and brave, a great dodor, or full fraught with grand titles, though never fo well qualified, he is a dunce,- but as * Baronius hath it of Car- dinalC^r^/^’s Works,’ he is a mcer Hog that rejeds any man for his poverty. Some are rf pgr cut too partial, as friends to overween , others iUe qui come with a prejudice to carp, vilifie, detrad and feoff; ( qui de me for fan, qmcqmd efi, omni contemptH contemptius judicant ) fome niuim for- as Bees for honey , lome as Spiders to ga- dide dmt- ther poyfon. What fhall I do in this cafe ? As a Dutch Hoft, if you come to an Inn in Germany, and dillike your fare, diet, lodg- ing, ^c. replyes in a furly tone, ^ aliud tibi quaras diverforktm , if you like not this, get you to another Inn : I refolve, if you like not my writing , go read fomething elfe. I do not much efteem thy cenfure, take thy courfe , ’tis not as thou wilt, nor as I will, but when we have both done, that of ^ Plinius Secundus to Trajan will true, Every mans mtty labour takes not , ifgmiHm except the matter , fubject , occafion, andnonjUtim^ fome commending favourite happen to it. If iourgk,ni- I be taxed, exploded by thee and fome fuch, I fhall haply be approved and commended by others, and fo have been ( Expertus loquor) mendatorq\ and may truly fay with “ Jovius in like contingat. cafe ( abft verbo jaclantia ) heroum quo- rundam, pontifeum, cF virorum nobilium fa¬ miliar it at em & amicitiam , gratafque gra- tias , (pr multorum bene laudatorum lau- n l.audarl des ftm inde promeritus , as I have been j Ittudato honoured by fome worthy men , fo have ’ I been vilified by others, and fhall be. At thefirft publifhing of this book , ( which ‘ Probus of Perfius fatyrs ) editum librum con-. ^ tinuo mirari homines , atque avide deripere cceperunt, I may in fome fort apply to this my work. The firft, fccond, and third Editi¬ on were fuddenly gone, eagerly read, and as I have faid , not fo much approved by fome, as fcornfully rejeded by others. But it was Democritus his fortune. Idem admirationi ^ x. * irrifioni habitus. 'Twas Seneca’s fate, that prJfentia. fuperintendent of wit, learning, judgement, jamam. P ad fiuporem dotlm , the beft of Cm^and P Latin Writers, in Tlutarcb’s opinion; That renowned corrector of vice, as ^Fabitts terms q ilh. lo. him, and painful otnnifcious Philofopher, that Vhrimm writ fo excellently and admirably well, QQ\j\^ji‘tdii,mnl< not pleafe all parties , or efcape cenfure: ggg„it:io- How is he vilified by ^ Caligula, dAgellim, nm, omnm Fabius, and Lipfms himfelf, his chief propug- jludiorm ner ? In eo pleraque pernitiofa , faith the fame Fabius, many childi(h trads and iPlgpf! tences he hath, fermo illaboratus, too negligent handa^mul. often, andremifs, zs <iy^gelliusohktsts,oratio ta adm- vulgaris cPr protrita, dicaces ^ inept a fen - ’•'^^d/t. tentia, eruditio plebeia, an homely (hallow writer as he is. In partibus fpinas ^ faflidia caicf. habet. A- fv'a$

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