Essays
Essais
A great book. First published AD 1580, written in Middle French
The Essays of Michel de Montaigne are contained in three books and 107 chapters of varying length. They were originally written in Middle French and published in the Kingdom of France. Montaigne's stated design in writing, publishing and revising the Essays over the period from approximately 1570 to 1592 was to record "some traits of my character and of my humours." The Essays were first published in 1580 and cover a wide range of topics.
.png?width=1000)
Your reading
Its heirs
Later works that draw on Essays.
The TempestGreat book
William Shakespeare, AD 1623
Gonzalo's dream of an ideal commonwealth on the island, with no trade, no letters and no magistrates, is taken almost word for word from Montaigne's essay 'Of Cannibals', in John Florio's translation.
Source: Wikipedia, The Tempest
“Also indicative of a New World setting are the name of Sycorax's god, Setebos, which derives from South America, and the source of Gonzalo's Utopia in Montaigne's essay Of The Cannibals (see also "Sources" above).” Read it there
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, GentlemanGreat book
Laurence Sterne, AD 1759
Montaigne, who wrote himself by digressing, contradicting himself and following his thoughts wherever they led, is one of the writers Sterne draws on and quotes most.
