The Anatomy of Melancholy
The Anatomy of Melancholy is a work by the English scholar Robert Burton, first published in 1621 and expanded in later editions. Presented as a medical and philosophical study of melancholy, it examines the causes, symptoms, and supposed cures of what we would now call depression and related states of mind. Burton ranges far beyond medicine into philosophy, theology, astronomy, love, and politics, weaving thousands of quotations from classical and contemporary writers into a vast, digressive whole. Writing under the persona Democritus Junior, he blends scholarship with humor and personal reflection. The book is famous for its enormous length, encyclopedic learning, and distinctive voice. Long admired by writers from Samuel Johnson to later essayists, it endures as one of the great eccentric monuments of English prose.
What you might want to know about The Anatomy of Melancholy
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A sprawling 17th-century study of melancholy, its causes, symptoms, and cures, packed with quotations and digressions.
It was first published in 1621 and expanded by Robert Burton in several later editions.
The Anatomy of Melancholy was written by Robert Burton, published in 1624 by Vintage Books.
The Anatomy of Melancholy is 547 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Anatomy of Melancholy takes most readers 8 to 12 hours to finish.
The Anatomy of Melancholy is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.