This is a copy of the first edition of Robert Burton's influential textbook on the causes, symptoms and remedies for ‘melancholy’.
The term is now often colloquially associated with mental illnesses such as depression. However, in the seventeenth century, it was an umbrella term for a wide array of low moods. These included not only the now recognised illnesses of depression and anxiety, but also the low moods associated with feelings of jealousy or lovesickness. It could even be applied to low mood as a symptom of bodily discomfort such as from indigestion or via aches and pains.
The Anatomy of Melancholy is a rather large book, stretching to almost 900 pages, and covering all aspects of melancholic conditions and their causes and symptoms. It offers different remedies for different afflictions, ranging from simple lifestyle changes and medical recommendations through to magic potions and lessons from mythology.
Burton was a Church of England clergyman but used his interest in science and antiquity to develop the treatise. Much of the work consists of quotations taken from classical authors -- often helpfully translated into English -- and from medical texts. Although many of the recommendations are very much rooted in seventeenth-century theories on the human body, particularly the idea of balancing the four humours, several remedies bear similarities to modern treatments for low mood, for instance, the encouragement of regular exercise and eating healthily.