Robert Burton

Robert Burton (February 8, 1577 – January 25, 1640) was an English scholar and vicar at Oxford University, best known for writing The Anatomy of Melancholy. This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events March 17 - formation of the Cathay Company to send Martin Frobisher back to the New World for more gold May 28 - Publication of the Bergen Book, better known as the Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, one of the Lutheran confessional writings. ... January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events December 1 - Portugal regains its independence from Spain and João IV of Portugal becomes king. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my [birth]right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... The Anatomy of Melancholy The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton appeared in 1621. ...

Life and work

Born at Lindley, Leicestershire, Burton spent most of his life at Oxford, first as a pupil at Brasenose College, and then as a student (the equivalent of a fellow at other Oxford and Cambridge colleges) of Christ Church. He studied a large number of diverse subjects, many of which informed his masterful study of melancholia for which he is chiefly famous. He was appointed vicar of St. Thomas Church in Oxford in 1616, and in 1630 he was also made the rector of Segrave, Leicester. Apart from The Anatomy of Melancholy his only other published work is Philosophaster, a satirical Latin comedy. Leicestershire (abbreviated Leics) is a landlocked county in central England. ... College name Brasenose College Named after Bronze door knocker Established 1509 Sister College Gonville and Caius College Principal Prof. ... Christ Church is the name of various churches and cathedrals, usually Protestant, named after Jesus Christ himself. ... Melancholia (Greek μελαγχολια) was described as a distinct disease as early as the fifth and fourth centuries BC in the Hippocratic writings. ... In the broadest sense, a vicar (from the Latin vicarius) is anyone acting as a substitute or agent for a superior (compare vicarious). In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant. ... Events October 25 — Dirk Hartog makes the second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, at an island off the Western Australian coast Pocahontas arrives in England War between Venice and Austria Collegium Musicum founded in Prague Nicolaus Copernicus De revolutionibus is placed on the Index of Forbidden Books... Events February 22 - Native American Quadequine introduces Popcorn to English colonists. ... The word rector (ruler, from the Latin regere) has a number of different meanings. ... Segrave is the name of an English baronial family. ... Leicester city centre, looking towards clock tower Leicester (pronounced ) is the largest city in the English East Midlands. ... Philosophaster is a Latin satirical comedy by Robert Burton. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ...

He wrote The Anatomy of Melancholy largely to write himself out of being a lifelong sufferer from melancholia. As he described his condition in the preface "Democritus Junior to the Reader," "for I had gravidum cor, foetum caput [a heavy heart, and hatchling in my head], a kind of imposthume in my head, which I was very desirous to be unladen of." Therefore, the treatise itself was intended as treatment. Again, from the preface: "I write of melancholy, by being busy to avoid melancholy. There is no greater cause of melancholy than idleness, no better cure than business."

The work, published under the pseudonym Democritus Junior in 1621, and was popular. In the words of Thomas Warton, "The author's variety of learning, his quotations from rare and curious books, his pedantry sparkling with rude wit and shapeless elegance ... have rendered it a repertory of amusement and information." Later authors sometimes drew from the work without acknowledgment (such accusations were leveled at Laurence Sterne's book Tristam Shandy). Samuel Johnson considered it one of his favorite books. Events February 9 - Gregory XV is elected pope. ... Thomas Warton (January 9, 1728 - May 21, 1790) was an English academic and poet, holder of the title of Poet Laureate from 1785. ... Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne (November 24, 1713 – March 18, 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and clergyman. ... The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (or, more briefly, Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. ... Samuel Johnson circa 1772, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. ...

Burton was a mathematician and dabbled in astrology. When not depressed he was an amusing companion, "very merry, facete, and juvenile," and a person of "great honesty, plain dealing, and charity." Merry, indeed, Burton had favorite sources for laughter. In 1728 Bishop Kennet wrote that, "I have heard that nothing could make him laugh, but going down to the Bridge-foot in Oxford and hearing the Barge-men scold and storm and swear at one another, at which he would set his Hands to his Sides, and laugh most profusely." Astrology refers to any of several systems, traditions or beliefs in which knowledge of the apparent positions of celestial bodies is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting, and organizing knowledge about human affairs and events on Earth. ... White Kennett (1660-1728) was an English bishop and antiquary born at Dover in August 1660. ...

Burton's burial in Christ Cathedral Church, Oxford, evinces that rumors of his suicide by hanging are unfounded.

The Anatomy of Melancholy was quoted in the beginning of H.G. Well's novel The War of the Worlds, which was made into a rock musical by Jeff Wayne which included voice work done by Richard Burton, a possible, but unverified, descendent of Robert Burton. The Anatomy of Melancholy The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton appeared in 1621. ... A statue of a tripod inspired by the book, erected in Woking town centre. ... Jeff Wayne is a musician mostly known for his musical version of H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds. ... Richard Burton in the movie Cleopatra (1963) Richard Burton CBE (November 10, 1925 – August 5, 1984) was a Welsh actor from the late 1940s through the 1980s. ...

References

• This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.
• For Bishop Kennett's quote on Burton's "going down to the Bridge-foot" for a laugh, see this British Library web page.

The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature is a collection of biographies of writers by John W. Cousin, published around 1910. ... White Kennett (1660-1728) was an English bishop and antiquary born at Dover in August 1660. ...

Bibliography

1. The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York Review of Books, 2001 - one-volume reprint of 1932 Everyman edition, with a new introduction by William H. Gass
2. The Anatomy of Melancholy, Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press, 1989-1994 - three volumes, with an introduction by J. B. Bamborough, edited by Thomas C. Faulkner, Nicolas K. Kiessling, and Rhonda L. Blair. (out of print)

2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... William H. Gass (born July 30, 1924 in Fargo, North Dakota) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic and teacher. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

Online texts

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Robert Burton

• Works by Robert Burton at Project Gutenberg

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External links

• Review and quotes at Complete-review.com
• A site on The Clarendon Edition
• Entry at the Columbia Encyclopedia