Michel de Montaigne, página 4 de 10

Essays by Michel de Montaigne The Essays (French: Essais, pronounced [es?]) of Michel de Montaigne are contained in three books and 107 chapters of varying length.They were originally written in Middle French and were originally published in the Kingdom of France. Montaignes 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.Montaignes stated goal in his book is to describe himself with utter frankness and honesty ("bonne foi"). The insight into human nature provided by his essays, for which they are so widely read, is merely a by-product of his introspection.Though the implications of his essays were profound and far-reaching, he did not intend or suspect that his work would garner much attention outside of his inner circle, prefacing his essays with, "I am myself the matter of this book; you would be unreasonable to suspend your leisure on so frivolous and vain a subject."Montaignes essay topics spanned the entire spectrum of the profound to the trivial, with titles ranging from "Of Sadness and Sorrow" and "Of Conscience" to "Of Smells" and "Of Posting" (referring to posting letters). Montaigne wrote at a time preceded by Catholic and Protestant ideological tension.Christianity in the 15th and 16th centuries saw Protestant authors consistently attempting to subvert Church doctrine with their own reason and scholarship. Consequently, Catholic scholars embraced skepticism as a means to discredit all reason and scholarship and accept Church doctrine through faith alone.

Le monde regarde toujours vis-à-vis ; moi, je replie ma vue au-dedans, je la plante, je l'amuse là. Chacun regarde devant soi ; moi, je regarde dedans moi : je n'ai affaire qu'à moi, je me considère sans cesse, je me contrôle, je me goûte. Les autres sont toujours ailleurs . moi je roule en moi-même. " Qu'un tel homme ait écrit, vraiment le plaisir de vivre sur cette terre en a été augmenté ". (Frédéric Nietzsche).

« C'est ici un livre de bonne foi, lecteur. Il t'avertit, dès l'entrée, que je ne m'y suis proposé aucune fin, que domestique et privée... Je veux qu'on m'y voie en ma façon simple, naturelle et ordinaire, sans contention et artifice : car c'est moi que je peins. Mes défauts s'y liront au vif, et ma forme naïve, autant que la révérence publique me l'a permis. Que si j'eusse été sous ces nations qu'on dit vivre encore sous la douce liberté des premières lois de nature, je t'assure que je m'y fusse très volontiers peint tout entier, et tout nu. »

En 1580, Michel de Montaigne dio a la imprenta la primera edición de sus dos libros de Los ensayos. El éxito fue tan arrollador que, dos años más tarde, apareció una nueva edición, aumentada con un tercer libro y con notables adiciones y correcciones en los dos primeros. Se completaba asi la redaccion de uno de los libros que mayor prestigio e influencia han tenido en el pensamiento occidental. Sin embargo, el gentilhombre perigordino siguio trabajando en el texto de sus ensayos hasta su muerte, acaecida en 1592. Tres años mas tarde, Marie de Gournay, fille d?alliance de Montaigne, presentaba una edicion de Los ensayos siguiendo las instrucciones que le diera su autor, edicion que durante siglos ha sido considerada canonica, hasta que Strowski preparo la suya entre 1906 y 1933. Hoy, el de Marie de Gournay es visto de nuevo, con justicia, como el texto de referencia, y sirve de base a todas las ediciones recientes fiables. Este es tambien el que el lector hispano encontrara en la presente edicion, enriquecida con referencias a los multiples estadios que experimento el texto y con un completo aparato de notas. Una edicion util al especialista y proxima al lector comun.

Tr.: Charles Cotton Ed.: William Carew Hazilitt / Contents: / Book The Second: / I. Of the inconstancy of our actions. / II. Of drunkenness. / III. A custom of the Isle of Cea. / IV. To-morrows a new day. / V. Of conscience. / VI. Use makes perfect.

Tr.: Charles Cotton Ed.: William Carew Hazilitt / Contents: / XIII. The ceremony of the interview of princes. / XIV. That men are justly punished for being obstinate in the defence / of a fort that is not in reason to be defended / XV. Of the punishment of cowardice. / XVI. A proceeding of some ambassadors. / XVII. Of fear. / XVIII. That men are not to judge of our happiness till after death. / XIX. That to study philosophy is to learn to die. / XX. Of the force of imagination. / XXI. That the profit of one man is the damage of another.

Tr.: Charles Cotton Ed.: William Carew Hazilitt / Contents: / XXVII. Of friendship. / XXVIII. Nine-and-twenty sonnets of Estienne de la Boetie. / XXIX. Of moderation. / XXX. Of cannibals. / XXXI. That a man is soberly to judge of the divine ordinances. / XXXII. That we are to avoid pleasures, even at the expense of life. / XXXIII. That fortune is oftentimes observed to act by the rule of / reason. / XXXIV. Of one defect in our government. / XXXV. Of the custom of wearing clothes. / XXXVI. Of Cato the Younger. / XXXVII. That we laugh and cry for the same thing. / XXXVIII. Of solitude.

Tr.: Charles Cotton Ed.: William Carew Hazilitt / Contents: / XXXII. Defence of Seneca and Plutarch. / XXXIII. The story of Spurina. / XXXIV. Means to carry on a war according to Julius Caesar. / XXXV. Of three good women. / XXXVI. Of the most excellent men. / XXXVII. Of the resemblance of children to their fathers.

Tr.: Charles Cotton Ed.: William Carew Hazilitt / Contents: / XLVIII. Of war-horses, or destriers. / XLIX. Of ancient customs. / L. Of Democritus and Heraclitus. / LI. Of the vanity of words. / LII. Of the parsimony of the Ancients. / LIII. Of a saying of Caesar. / LIV. Of vain subtleties. / LV. Of smells. / LVI. Of prayers. / LVII. Of age.

La "découverte" du Nouveau Monde, en 1492, provoque un bouleversement d'une ampleur inouïe, qui fascine les penseurs humanistes de la Renaissance. Mû par son insatiable curiosité, Montaigne consacre

Tr.: Charles Cotton Ed.: William Carew Hazilitt / Contents: / I. That Men by Various Ways Arrive at the Same End. / II. Of Sorrow. / III. That our affections carry themselves beyond us. / IV. That the soul discharges her passions upon false objects, / where the true are wanting. / V. Whether the governor of a place besieged ought himself to go / out to parley. / VI. That the hour of parley is dangerous. / VII. That the intention is judge of our actions. / VIII. Of idleness. / IX. Of liars. / X. Of quick or slow speech. / XI. Of prognostications. / XII. Of constancy.

Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form.In 1572, Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding essays, inspired by the ideas he found in books from his library and his own experience.He discusses subjects as diverse as war-horses and cannibals, poetry and politics, sex and religion, love and friendship, ecstasy and experience. Above all, Montaigne studied himself to find his own inner nature and that of humanity. The Essays are among the most idiosyncratic and personal works in all literature. An insight into a wise Renaissance mind, they continue to engage, enlighten and entertain modern readers.Born in 1533, Michel de Montaigne studied law and spent a number of years working as a counsellor before devoting his life to reading, writing and reflection. He died in 1586.

Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form.In 1572, Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding essays, inspired by the ideas he found in books from his library and his own experience.He discusses subjects as diverse as war-horses and cannibals, poetry and politics, sex and religion, love and friendship, ecstasy and experience. Above all, Montaigne studied himself to find his own inner nature and that of humanity. The Essays are among the most idiosyncratic and personal works in all literature. An insight into a wise Renaissance mind, they continue to engage, enlighten and entertain modern readers.Born in 1533, Michel de Montaigne studied law and spent a number of years working as a counsellor before devoting his life to reading, writing and reflection. He died in 1586.

Tr.: Charles Cotton Ed.: William Carew Hazilitt / Contents: / XIII. Of judging of the death of another. / XIV. That the mind hinders itself. / XV. That our desires are augmented by difficulty. /

Tr.: Charles Cotton Ed.: William Carew Hazilitt / Contents: / X. Of Managing the WIllus. / XI. Of Cripples. / XII. Of Physiognomy.