Michel de Montaigne, Essais [Essays]

Max Gauna (University of Sheffield)

Ed. by David Williams, University of Sheffield
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.02: French Writing and Culture in the Renaissance, 1400-1600.
Vol. editors: Robert J. Hudson (Brigham Young University), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), Phillip John Usher (New York University), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Philosophy (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1580 - 1595

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Essay Collection

Resources

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In 1570 Michel Eyquem de Montaigne inherited the greater part of his family estate when his much-loved father finally succumbed to the renal calculus that had long made his life a misery. Michel had made a success of his career as a lawyer in Bordeaux, but in the years since the death of his bosom friend Etienne de la Boétie in 1568 he had become hopelessly disillusioned with the gulf between his own classically inspired concept of justice and the cruel and corrupt simulacrum of it he observed all around him. Now he could afford to abandon a profession he was finding increasingly distasteful, and he commemorated the event by having the following words inscribed in Latin on the wall of the library of his château: ‘In the year of our Lord 1571, on the eve of the Kalends of March, aged…

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3927 words

Citation: Gauna, Max. "Essais". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 July 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5335, accessed 21 November 2024.]