NMLP P-041317 · Point of issue · minted 2026-07-19

The Anatomy of Melancholy

Robert Burton · Printed by John Lichfield and James Short for Henry Cripps, Oxford · 1621

The 1621 title page is letterpress only and the author is named solely by the pseudonym "Democritus Junior." Presence of the famous allegorical engraved title in compartments — signed by Christof (Christian) Le Blon and incorporating the author's portrait — positively excludes the first edition: that plate first appears in the third edition of 1628 and recurs in 1632, 1638, 1651-52 and 1676, with the portrait visibly ageing across the run

Full identification guide for this title →

New Mexico Literacy Project — Point of issue NMLP P-041317 for "The Anatomy of Melancholy" by Robert Burton (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-041317, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).