
29 September 2021 – 20 March 2022
Treasury, Weston Library
About the exhibition
‘Who is not a Foole, who is free from Melancholy?’, asked Robert Burton, 400 years ago, and answered his own question: ‘all the world is mad, is melancholy, dotes’.
Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy, first published in 1621, is a huge and innovative encyclopaedia of mental and emotional disorder, as understood in the late Renaissance.
A scholar and clergyman in Christ Church, Oxford, Burton was one of the early users of the Bodleian Library and left many of the books in his own substantial collection to the Bodleian.
The Anatomy examines the causes and symptoms of melancholy or, as we would call it today, depression. Its remedies range from good food and exercise, to laughter, reading, friends, and music. Its closing page recommends that the reader ‘be not solitary, be not idle’, and the distraction provided by reading the Anatomy itself is one suggested cure.
Four hundred years later – as our mental health faces many challenges – this exhibition revisits the Anatomy, using objects from the Bodleian Libraries to highlight common experiences and connections over time.
Curated by Oxford experts in mental health research and the humanities, the exhibition shows how Burton’s holistic and multifaceted conception of cure finds surprising echoes in contemporary psychiatry and prescriptions for mental health.https://www.youtube.com/embed/fiwzWSEc7lA?rel=0
Watch each of our curators discuss their research area in more detail on our YouTube playlist
Virtual exhibition opening panel
Watch the opening panel on YouTube
Chair: Niall Boyce, Editor of The Lancet Psychiatry
Speakers:
- Professor John Geddes, Head of Department of Psychiatry
- Dr Kathryn Murphy, Faculty of English
- Sister Stephanie-Therese, Sisters of the Love of God
- Sir Philip Pullman CBE
Introduced by Richard Ovenden OBE, Bodley’s Librarian
Learning resources
Melancholy: A New Anatomy exhibition trail
This exhibition trail, designed for secondary school pupils, explores the themes of Melancholy: A New Anatomy including the role of diet, reading and writing, outdoor spaces, faith-informed therapy and social contact for good mental health.
Through a series of nine questions, students are consider the legacy of Robert Burton’s 400 year old work and its relevance to modern therapeutic ideas and practice, and are prompted to reflect on their own experiences.
A separate sheet of suggested answers is provided for teachers.
Download the exhibition trail answers
Acknowledgements
Generously supported by The Guy and Elinor Meynell Charitable Trust
Curators
- Dr Kathryn Murphy
- Professor John Geddes
- Dr Richard Lawes
- Simon D. Kyle
- Stephen Puntis
- Gulamabbas Lakha
- Dr Kate Saunders
- Dr Phil Burnet
- Joseph Butler
More information on the Boldeian Library website