A Look Inside

In our Special Collection’s copy of the work, printed seven years after its first publication, there is some marginalia which appears to be an indistinguishable signature.  On the right page, the cover illustration is quite impressive.  In each smaller frame, we see the different affecters of melancholy, including solitude, love, madness, knowledge, superstition, and madness.  At the center we see an image of the author as well as a description of the work, noting the philosophical, medical, and historical nature of the topic.  And the satirical preface is also made very obvious.

The first partition covers a quick study of man, including both the spiritual and physical natures, as well as infirmities and their causes.  Similar to other writes of this time, Burton makes sure set up his Christian worldview within his first section.

Here we see the beginning of a section on the effects of sleep and wake.  The text has plenty of margin notes, all in Latin.  These are most likely Burton’s own notes, as a major signature of his style was that he fleshed out his own ideas through literary references and further explanations.

“Passions and perturbations:” amongst many other things, these were seen as a direct cause of melancholy.  Burton refers to the body as a microcosm.  Any unnatural influence, including unnatural feelings or workings of the brain, would definitely disrupt this small world that is the body.

This is not the only time music is declared a remedy within this work.  Amongst his arguments, one can assume that Burton would pull heavily from Biblical accounts, including David’s soothing the madness of King Saul via his harp-playing. 

Before the start of the Third Partition, which breaks down all the categories of melancholy, there is this handy table.  Each section is generally described on the left end, and then more specific key words are given as one moves to the right.  This is an interesting visual as we see how multiple topics fit into the broader subject of symptoms and causes.

Burton raises the question of how religious and love melancholy are linked, since there is a love of God involved.  From a heterosexual man’s point of view, he points to one divergence: the object being woman versus the object being God.  Under each section title we see an epigraph of sorts from the author; no doubt many of these include allusions of some sort.

Melancholy was associated with many parts of the body, just as the humors were believed to affect multiple parts of the anatomy.  Burton focuses on the head in general, not only in this section but in his general work, because this serves well as a platform for discussion of the psychological.

The second partition is a counter-argument against cures that do now work.  In the second paragraph down, there is a list from which words like “spells,” “amulets,” and “incantations” seem to stand out.  Burton establishes his faith in the more tangible cures of early modern medicine and science (which for modern readers often seems just as ridiculous).

It is interesting the Burton writes on blood-letting, as it was considered a more medieval practice.  He even references its past use by older physicians like Galen.  Whether or not he intended it, Burton presents a clear example of the tension during this transitional period in science.

The third partition covers love melancholy, and those causes related to it.  This partition is most likely to be full of Burton’s colorful language and extensive allusions to all kinds of other writings.