In the preface, the author tells why he used the pseudonym "Democritus Junior." Democritus, he says, as described by Hippocrates and Diogenes Laertius, was "a little wearyiſh olde man, very melancholy by nature, averſe from company in his latter times, and much giuen to ſolitarineſſe," who undertook to find the seat of melancholy. "_Democritus Iunior_ is therefore bold to imitate, and becauſe he left it unperfect, to proſecute and finiſh, in this Treatiſe." In "The Concluſion of the Author to the Reader," three leaves at the end of the volume, signed "Robert Burton," and dated "From my Studie in Chriſt Church, Oxon, Decemb 5. 1620," he says: "The laſt Section ſhall be mine, to cut the ſtrings of _Democritus_ viſor, to vnmaſke and ſhew him as he is ... _Democritus_ began as a Prologue to this Trage-comedie, but why doth the Author end, and act the Epilogue in his owne name? I intended at firſt to haue concealed my ſelfe, but _ſecunde cogitationes_ &c. for ſome reaſons I haue altered mine intent, and am willing to ſubſcribe...." Later editions, and there were eight during Burton's lifetime, omit the conclusion, and show other alterations. The success of the book, as may be seen from this large number of editions, was great. Wood says that Cripps, the bookseller, made a fortune out of the sale of it, yet he received only a half share of the profits; the other half, belonging to the author, was made over by him in his will to members of the college and to various Oxford friends. "If anie bookes be lefte lett my executors dispose of them, with all such bookes as are written with my owne handes, and half my _Melancholy_ copie, for Crips hath the other halfe." In course of time the _Anatomy_ was almost forgotten, and Lowndes tells us it owes its revival to Dr. Johnson, who observed that it "was the only book that ever took him out of bed two hours sooner than he wished to rise." Lichfield and Short were university printers whose press will be chiefly remembered in connection with the production of this masterpiece. The book is ornamented with a few type-metal head- and tail-pieces, and a large initial and a woodcut head-band at the beginning. Quarto. COLLATION: _a-f4, in eights; A-Ddd4, in eights_. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616) 19. M^r. William | Shakespeares | Comedies, | Histories, & | Tragedies. | Publiſhed according to the True Originall Copies. | [Portrait] London | Printed by Iſaac Iaggard, and Ed. Blount. 1623. The bibliographical history of this most famous book has been written so completely by Mr. Sidney Lee that little remains to be said. The following notes aim only at recounting the facts suggested by a reading of the title-page.