In ‘Democritus Junior to the Reader’ Robert Burton describes melancholy as ‘this Medicinall subject’ (I, 21) and justifies why he, as a divine, should choose to write about it. In the previous chapter I examined the spiritual aspects of melancholy with which Burton chose to end his work, arguing that he presents there an alternative to existing, Calvinist modes of therapeutic discourse. In this chapter I will consider The Anatomy 's status as a medical text, and the implications this has for his presentation of his text in curative terms. Although much has been written about Burton and medicine, the question of how he handles medical therapy through the pages of a book has not been addressed. Ancient and early modern medical works in Latin and English provide a precedent for Burton's division and handling of his subject-matter and influence the structure of his text, as well as acting as major sources. As I will argue, the Anatomy provides an important meeting point between Latin and vernacular medical publications, being both a scholarly endeavour which repeatedly acknowledges its debt to major continental physicians, and a work written in English by a non-professional for lay readers, which gives advice about the preservation of health as well as the cure of disease.

While it is helpful and illuminating to view the Anatomy from a medical perspective, it is also necessary to show where the work departs from medical sources and goes further than them in the examination of melancholy and its treatments.