Michel de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) was a French humanist thinker and essayist of the late Renaissance, born at the Château de Montaigne near Bordeaux. His representative work, the Essays, created the modern essay genre and is known for its skepticism and self-examination; it has deeply influenced Bacon, Pascal, and later European literature. Our catalog holds eleven of his works, mostly different editions and selections of Montaigne's Essays, including the National Reading Classics series and the Translation Essays series, which shows how widely his essays circulate in the Chinese-speaking world. These works are usually classified under prose and miscellaneous writings, foreign literature, and classic works, and are also often read as inspirational and personal-growth titles. Montaigne examines human nature and everyday experience in a plain, intimate style; his writing is natural and unhurried, drawing general reflections from self-observation. Public information about the details of his life is limited, and readers may chiefly appreciate his thought and style through his essays.