Spanning 24 centuries, this anthology collects over 30 selections of Western writing about melancholy and its related conditions by philosophers, doctors, religious and literary figures, and modern psychologists. 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. 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 collection is also illustrated with depictions of melancholy from Western fine art.