The Complete Essays
Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form. This Penguin Classics edition of The Complete Essays is translated from the French and edited with an introduction and notes by M.A. Screech. In 1572 Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding 'assays', inspired by the ideas he found in books contained in his library and from his own experience. He discusses subjects as diverse as war-horses and cannibals, poetry and politics, sex and religion, love and friendship, ecstasy and experience. But, above all, Montaigne studied himself as a way of…
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne was born in 1533, the son and heir of Pierre, Seigneur de Montaigne (who had two previous children who died soon after birth). He was brought up to speak Latin as his mother tongue and always retained a Latin turn of mind; though he knew Greek, he preferred to use translations. After studying law he eventually became counselor to the Parlement of Bordeaux. He married in 1565. In 1569 he published his French version of the Natural Theology of Raymond Sebond; his Apology is only partly a defense of Sebond and sets skeptical limits to human reasoning about God, man and nature. He retired in 1571 to his lands at Montaigne, devoting himself to reading and reflection and to composing his Essays (first…
On Solitude
Michel de Montaigne
The Complete Works of Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne; Translated by Donald M. Frame; Introduction by Stuart Hampshire
The Essays
Michel de Montaigne; Translated and Edited with an Introduction and Notes by M. A. Screech
The Complete Essays
Michel de Montaigne
Essays
Michel de Montaigne; Translated with an Introduction by J. M. Cohen