One of the major documents of modern European civilization Robert Burtonsastounding compendium a survey of melancholy in all its myriad forms hasinvited nothing... » 

One of the major documents of modern European civilization Robert Burtonsastounding compendium a survey of melancholy in all its myriad forms hasinvited nothing but superlatives since its publication in the seventeenthcentury. Lewellyn Powys called it the greatest work of prose of the greatestperiod of English prosewriting while the celebrated surgeon William Oslerdeclared it the greatest of medical treatises. And Dr. Johnson Boswellreports said it was the only book that he rose early in the morning to readwith pleasure. In this surprisingly compact and elegant new edition Burtonsspectacular verbal labyrinth is sure to delight instruct and divert todaysreaders as much as it has those of the past four centuries. «