A User's Guide to Melancholy

'I didn't think it possible for my favourite book to be summarised, and analysed, and explained so well. Mary Ann Lund has done Burton a great service, and us readers too, whether or not we've embarked on the wide and turbulent sea of his prose. What I found particularly enlightening was the author's examination of other texts, ancient and medieval and from Burton's own time, about this endlessly absorbing subject, and the perspective she reveals on the condition of melancholy from a modern viewpoint. Burton is inexhaustible and irreplaceable, of course, but this delightfully written and brilliantly informative guide is the best introduction to this great book I have ever seen. I hope it has a great success, and remains in print for four hundred years.' Philip Pullman

'At last there is an accessible way into Robert Burton's labyrinthine masterpiece! Dr Lund has distilled all the wit, recondite learning and human empathy of The Anatomy of Melancholy into this wonderful guide.' Colin Gale, Bethlem Museum of the Mind

'A truly fascinating historical journey through an extraordinary range of mental health experiences. Full of captivating descriptions, with Mary Ann Lund the perfect engaging and enlightening guide.' Daniel Freeman, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Presenter of BBC Radio 4's A History of Delusions

'A rich and fascinating tour through the territory of melancholy in seventeenth-century England and beyond. Lund provides an expert but very readable introduction to Burton's masterpiece, and her entertaining exploration of the cultural resonances of the Anatomy's medical, psychological, and literary subject matter also prompts us to think seriously about the lasting historical legacies of those who wrote about and struggled with melancholy in the past.' Angus Gowland, Reader in Intellectual History, University College London

'In her superb new monograph about Burton's work, A User's Guide to Melancholy, Mary Ann Lund, a scholar of Renaissance literature, explains how melancholy has always had a span as wide as the mind's horizon.' Horatio Clare, UnHerd

'At a time when challenges to mental health are severe and widespread, Mary Ann Lund is a welcome guide to a classic work on the subject.' Casper Henderson, The Spectator

'A learned, broad and readable picture of Renaissance medicine.' Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian

'A fine guide to a classic work.' Morning Star

'Throughout, Lund's lucid prose brings Burton life for a new generation of readers and succeeds at imposing order on a most disorderly masterpiece.' Times Literary Supplement

'The book's slim size and modest price could help make it a good choice for courses either in the history of medicine or literature. Instructors of senior seminars in English or history in particular might wish to discuss with students whether Lund's methodology could be applied to other primary sources, time periods, or geographical locales … Highly recommended.' A. K. Ackerberg-Hastings, Choice

'Mary Ann Lund's A User's Guide to Melancholy gives Robert Burton's Anatomy a contemporary clarity that will make it a companion to his classic for years to come.' Timothy Barr, Renaissance Quarterly