Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Audiobook56 hours
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Written by Robert Burton
Narrated by Peter Wickham
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
The Anatomy of Melancholy is one of the most remarkable books ever written. First published in 1621, and hardly ever out of print since, it is a huge, varied, idiosyncratic, entertaining and learned survey of the experience of melancholy, seen from just about every possible angle that could be imagined. Its subtitle explains much: The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With All the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of It. In Three Maine Partitions with their Several Sections, Members, and Subsections. Philosophically, Medicinally, Historically, Opened and Cut Up. But despite the subtitle's length, it does not do justice to the immense scope of the study. Nor to its oddness. Robert Burton (1577-1640) was an Oxford scholar, a vicar and a mathematician with a stupendously wide reading habit which was supported by an exceptional memory: he remembered virtually everything he read. However, throughout his life he suffered from depression and was therefore able to bring personal experience to what could have been a dry, if gargantuan academic study. According to traditional medicine, accepted generally by Jacobeans, melancholy was caused by ‘black bile'. But for Burton psychology underpinned all. He divides his book into three Partitions. In 'The First Partition' he looks at causes of melancholy. He addresses diet (good and bad) and appetite; he considers witches and magicians; he surveys any number of physical maladies from ‘phrenzy' to ‘lycanthropia'. The soul – sensible and rational – is investigated; the passions (envy, malice, anger, discontent, covetousness, love of gaming, pride, overmuch joy) are intricately examined. 'The Second Partition' is dedicated to ‘The Cure of Melancholy', and Burton discusses physical issues and social positions, while dealing meticulously with such emotional states as envy, ambition, self-love and more. 'The Third Partition' is dedicated to an examination of ‘Love-Melancholy': beauty, lust, music, amorous tales, bawds – and also religious melancholy. All this hardly reflects the experience of listening to The Anatomy of Melancholy. Burton's fertile and curious mind dips here, there and everywhere. Classical references abound; the text teems with obscure references to scientists, doctors, philosophers, writers, musicians and politicians from all ages. They are invariably fascinating and in some cases astounding. He is equally fluent in investigating the diaphragm, the pleura, the vena cava, the bladder, the gall and the spleen as he is in acknowledging the role of hypochondria and psychosomatic ailments. In one sentence he refers to the excess habits of Alcibiades, in the next he is evoking Chaucer's Wife of Bath. In fact quotations from Chaucer and Shakespeare, Juvenal, Lucretius, the Bible, Ariosto and Virgil tumble over one another in a glorious cornucopia. This great text, a monument to English knowledge and invention, once approached is never forgotten. It has informed, delighted and infuriated generations of great men of all disciplines (including Samuel Johnson) down the centuries. It must also be acknowledged that it is as challenging a task to record as exists in English literature. Peter Wickham, no stranger to tough texts, proves undaunted by it: he brings Robert Burton magnificently to the 21st century ear, rendering the Jacobean language, the abstruse references and the unbelievable detail, with a remarkable ease and familiarity. The Anatomy of Melancholy, presented here
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 11, 2020
ISBN9781004134076
Unavailable
More audiobooks from Robert Burton
The Anatomy of Melancholy Volume 3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Author's Abstract of Melancholy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Anatomy of Melancholy Volume 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Anatomy of Melancholy Volume 2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to The Anatomy of Melancholy
Related audiobooks
The History of Emotions: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life Is Everywhere: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles: The Power of a Reader's Mind over a Universe of Death Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Archaeology of Loss: Life, love and the art of dying Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinal Chapters: How Famous Authors Died Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Everybody: A Book About Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fragile Species Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Sensational Past: How the Enlightenment Changed the Way We Use Our Senses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Call of Cthulhu: Audio Book Bestseller Classics Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrief: A Philosophical Guide Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Augustine: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEpidemics: Hate and Compassion from the Plague of Athens to AIDS Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Yang Chu's Garden of Pleasure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Doors of Perception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When The Dog Barks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNecronomicon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnveiling the Apocalypse: The End Times According to the Bible Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5How to Grieve: An Ancient Guide to the Lost Art of Consolation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Proust Was a Neuroscientist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Scientific Sublime: Popular Science Unravels the Mysteries of the Universe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen: Spiritual Guides for the 21st Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Iron Heel (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHume: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Philosophy For You
101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Stoic Mindset: Living the Ten Principles of Stoicism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The School of Life: An Emotional Education Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stoicism: How to Use Stoic Philosophy to Find Inner Peace and Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Plato's Republic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Tao of Pooh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mastering Logical Fallacies: The Definitive Guide to Flawless Rhetoric and Bulletproof Logic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Communicating Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary: The Laws of Human Nature: by Robert Greene: Key Takeaways, Summary & Analysis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/512 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson - Book Summary: An Antidote to Chaos Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5People of the Lie Vol. 1: Toward a Psychology of Evil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The End is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Kybalion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life Is a 4-Letter Word: Laughing and Learning Through 40 Life Lessons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dao De Jing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Anatomy of Melancholy
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews