In 2013, I assembled a social media 'translation' of Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), collecting every tweet including the word 'melancholy' sent in January of that year and presenting them in chronological order in book form. The book has 31 chapters, one for each day of the month, plus an appendix where I collected all the non-alphanumeric content (emojis etc). In Burton's time, melancholy was thought of as a clinical condition and his book treats it as such, examining 'What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it'. I was interested in how the word is used now, how it can describe sadness or depression but it also both and neither of those things. The book is still available in print but is also now available as a free PDF. Details of both here.
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