On Solitude
Blending intellectual speculation with anecdote and personal reflection, the
Renaissance thinker and writer Montaigne pioneered the modern essay. This selection
contains his idiosyncratic and timeless writings on subjects as varied as the virtues of
solitude, the power of the imagination, the pleasures of reading, the importance of sleep
and why we sometimes laugh and cry at the same things.
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we
see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution.
They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and
destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals
and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne, was born in 1533, the son and
heir of Pierre, Seigneur de Montaigne (two previous children dying soon after birth). He
was brought up to speak Latin as his mother tongue and always retained a Latin turn of
mind; though he knew Greek, he preferred to use translations. After studying law he
eventually became counselor to the Parlement of Bordeaux. He married in 1565. In 1569 he
published his French version of the Natural Theology of Raymond Sebond; his Apology is
only partly a defense of Sebond and sets skeptical limits to human reasoning about God,
man and nature.
He retired in 1571 to his lands at Montaigne, devoting himself to reading and
reflection and to composing his Essays (first version, 1580). He loathed the fanaticism
and cruelties of the religious wars of the period, but sided with Catholic orthodoxy and
legitimate monarchy. He was twice elected Mayor of Bordeaux (1581 and 1583), a post he
held for four years. He died at Montaigne (1592) while preparing the final, and richest,
edition of his Essays.
124 pages, Paperback