Ostensibly a guidebook to melancholia or depression, Burton's masterpiece is really an all-encompassing examination of the human condition.
The Anatomy of Melancholy is the vast and only work by Robert Burton, the seventeenth-century English priest and scholar. It 'opens and cuts up' the condition of melancholy, or depression, as we know it today, and in doing so explores a dizzying range of additional topics including goblins, beauty, the geography of America, digestion, the passions, alcohol and kissing.
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 tonic for the very condition it describes.
By:
Robert Burton Edited by:
Angus Gowland Imprint: Penguin Country of Publication: United Kingdom Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 153mm,
Spine: 56mm
Weight: 1.227kg ISBN:9780141192284 ISBN 10: 0141192283 Pages: 1424 Publication Date:10 October 2023 Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format:Paperback Publisher's Status: Active
Reviews for The Anatomy of Melancholy
The best book ever written -- Nick Lezard * Guardian *
