THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY. [In Two Volumes] E.MCKNIGHT KAUFFER (Illustrator). FRANCIS MEYNELL (Typographer). [Robert Burton] 'Democritus Junior' (Author). Publication : 1925 Condition: Fair

Title: THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY. What it is: With ...

Publisher: Nonesuch Press, London

Publication Date: 1925

Binding: Hardcover

Book Condition: Fair

Edition: 1st

Two volumes. No. 210 of 750 copies. xv, [1], 299, [1] pp.+ [iv], 301-[591] printed pages. With 200 illustrations (with some repeat designs) by E. McKnight Kauffer reproduced from zinc line blocks. Printed at the Westminster Press in Monotype Plantin on Dutch laid paper with Nonesuch watermark. Unopened pages. Black endpapers. Text very slightly age-toned but otherwise in very good condition. 21 x 31.5 cm. Bound in quarter parchment. Gilt lettering on spine, with star indicating one and two volumes; spines richly patinated from 95 years of environmental change, causing darker blothches & yellowing . Front and back boards with Italian patterned paper covered boards; corners and lower edges slightly worn and top of front board of volume 2 missing a 5 x 1 cm section of patterned paper and a degradation of the board in that spot; there are also one or two minor blemishes to the paper in other places. The encyclopaedic Anatomy of Melancholy , produced by clergyman Robert Burton (1577-1640), explores vast numbers of mental afflictions touching on what is now termed depression.He says that melancholy is an "inbred malady" we all suffer from and that he is "not a little offended" by melancholy himself. The 1st section dissects the symptoms and causes of melancholy, covering God to witches & includes devils, parents, imprisonment, poverty, "overmuch study", "desire for revenge" & "overmuch use of hot wines". The middle section of the book talks about cures such as diet & exercise, potions, blood-letting & purging. The final part examines religious melancholy and the melancholy of love. There is a section "Maides, Nunnes, and Widows" that reveals Burton's belief that female melancholy was often linked to sexuality & to sexual frustration. This is the first of three books illustrated by Edward McKnight Kauffer (1890-1954), that split contemporary opinon, but are much admired and collected currently. Bookseller Inventory # 4370