Essayes…done into English…by John Florio

1613

De Beer Ec 1613 M

London: Printed by Melch. Bradwood for Edward Blount and William Barret

The Bordeaux-based Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533–1592) invented the essay format. His Essais (Essays), digressive self-reflective musings covering everything from ‘Smels and odours’, ‘Friendship’, and ‘Of Exercise or Practise’, to (as here) ‘Of Idleness’ and ‘Of Lyars’, were first published in French between 1580 and 1588. In 1603, John Florio (1553-1625), language tutor at the Court of James I, translated them into English. This is the second English edition of 1613. In the past, those influenced by Montaigne’s Essays have included fellow Frenchmen Descartes, Pascal, and Rousseau.