Essays (Montaigne)

Essays
Cover, circa 1588.
AuthorMichel de Montaigne
Original titleEssais
LanguageMiddle French
GenreEssay
PublisherSimon Millanges, Jean Richer
Publication date
March 1580
Publication placeKingdom of France
TextEssays at Wikisource

The Essays (French: Essais, pronounced [esɛ]) 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.[1]

The Essais exercised an important influence on both French and English literature, in thought and style.[2]

  1. ^ Montaigne, Michel de (1580). Essais de messire Michel de Montaigne,... livre premier et second (I ed.). impr. de S. Millanges (Bourdeaus). Retrieved 1 June 2017 – via Gallica.
  2. ^ Bloom, Harold (1995). The Western Canon. Riverhead Books. ISBN 978-1573225144.