The Essays of Michael Seigneur de Montaigne
New York: Gryphon Editions, 1994. Royal octavo, full leather binding decorated in gilt, raided bands, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, ribbon marker, pp 682 including index. Fine condition.
Deluxe leather edition, privately printed for members of the Libraries of Gryphon Editions. Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592) was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance, and known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. The style and content of his massive work "Essais" were very influential on centuries of later writers. This edition is the well-known Charles Cotton translation, from an edition published in 1870. A handsome volume of a landmark work of literature: some of the most interesting essays ever written. The author of a book on Montaigne's work, Sarah Bakewell, writes that have some have seen him "not just as a philosopher but as the world's truly modern thinker, because of his intense awareness that he was complex and self-divided, always double in himself, as he put it. In my opinion, he was the first and greatest philosopher of life as it is actually lived, and perhaps the one who has the most to offer our troubled 21st century. [...] his investigations are not merely random; they all centre on one great question which concerns us all: how does one live? That is, how does one make wise and honourable choices, understand oneself, behave as a fully human being, treat others well, and acquire peace of mind?" Item #105080
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