Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete

Michel de Montaigne

Wide-ranging essays examine experience and human judgement without pretending to settle every question. The complete collection is substantial; a single essay can be a useful starting point. For doubt, Book II, XII, “Apology For Raimond Sebond”, examines the difficulty of even stating complete uncertainty and asks what one knows. For education, Book I, XXV, “Of the Education of Children”, gives the pupil a voice and values judgment, appropriate pacing and applied understanding. These historical discussions include religious and class assumptions; they invite scrutiny rather than supply universal methods or the sources of the selected proverbs.

Who it suits

Readers comfortable with wandering, questioning prose.

Reading experience

Demanding; older translation and a large collection. This is an Edsverb editorial guide, not a measured reading score.

The edition

Edition

Charles Cotton translation, edited by William Carew Hazlitt

Language

English

Translator

Charles Cotton

Project Gutenberg lists this specific edition as public domain in the USA; rights elsewhere are not established here.

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