At the end of the first edition of The Anatomy of Melancholy, Burton provides his reader with a separate conclusion, the purpose of which is to ‘cut the strings of Democritus visor, to unmaske and shew him as he is’. He apologises for the work's inadequacies, adds a general word of thanks to his friends, and signs himself ‘From my Studie in Christ-Church Oxon. Decemb 5. 1620. Robert Burton’. In subsequent editions this conclusion is removed, with much of the material naturally fitted into the satirical preface, ‘Democritus Junior to the Reader’, instead. However, one important passage in this conclusion does not find a place in the text from 1624 onwards, and is hence easily overlooked. In it Burton reveals something of the genesis of the printed book, as he thanks those friends

The story of how the Anatomy circulated in Oxford before publication, who read it, and how they reacted (apart from plain ‘approbation’) is an intriguing and, sadly, untraceable one. What is more telling is his statement that he consulted physicians and divines.