5. “Idleness is an appendix to nobility”: The Preface to Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Acknowledgments vii
3. Contents ix
4. Preface: Writing for the Long Run xi
5. 1. Marvelously Altered 1
6. 2. Thomas Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, and the Demon of Consumption 35
7. 3. William Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida: Credit Risks 62
8. 4. “Allegory of a China Shop”: Ben Jonson’s Entertainment at Britain’s Burse and Volpone 93
9. 5. “Idleness is an appendix to nobility”: The Preface to Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy 121
10. Coda: Butter Buyers 143
11. Notes 151
12. Bibliography 173
13. Index 197