The Nature of Melancholy

Spanning 24 centuries, this interdisciplinary anthology collects over 30 pieces of Western writing about melancholy and related conditions. As it traces Western attitudes, it reveals a conversation across centuries and continents as authors interpret, respond, and build on each other's work. Spanning 24 centuries, this anthology collects over thirty selections of important Western writing about melancholy and its related conditions by philosophers, doctors, religious and literary figures, and modern psychologists. Truly interdisciplinary, it is the first such anthology. As it traces Western attitudes, it reveals a conversation across centuries and continents as the authors interpret, respond, and build on each other's work. Editor Jennifer Radden provides an extensive, in-depth introduction that draws links and parallels between the selections, and reveals the ambiguous relationship between these historical accounts of melancholy and today's psychiatric views on depression. This important new collection is also beautifully illustrated with depictions of melancholy from Western fine art.