Skip navigation

Search

“Authors communicate with the world in some special and peculiar capacity; I am the first to do so with my whole being” (Montaigne, Essays, Book 3, Chapter 2: On Repentance, p. 236).
Image of Montaigne: Essays

Essays

Author: 

Michel de Montaigne

1533 CE – 1592 CE
 

The French thinker, humanist and statesman Michel Eyquem de Montaigne is best remembered for his Essays, an introspective collection of loosely-structured reflections meant to present as detailed and accurate a portrait of its author as possible. Strikingly modern in their conception of the self and its relationship to the outside world, while also concerned with social and political events such as the Wars of Religion, his writings are viewed as formative to various disciplines and fields of thought, including autobiography and metaphysics. 

 

Historical Context for Essays by Michel de Montaigne
Explorations

Explorations labeled “Licensed for Private Use” are available only to members of the Columbia community.

Montaigne in Manuscript Form, RBML, 2011. Columbia Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Hosted Offsite
Tower of Château Montaigne, Périgord, France, 13th cent.
Tower of Château Montaigne, Périgord, France, 13th... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
Democritus and Heraclitus, by Donato Bramante, c. 1482
Democritus and Heraclitus, by Donato Bramante, c.... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
Cynocephales (Dog-headed Cannibals), by Lorenz Fries, 1530
Cynocephales (Dog-headed Cannibals), by Lorenz... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
The Fall of Icarus, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1555-58
The Fall of Icarus, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
Sloth (Desidia), by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1558
Sloth (Desidia), by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1558... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
The Battle between Carnival and Lent, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559
The Battle between Carnival and Lent, by Pieter... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
Panel with Grotesques, by Alesandro Allori, c. 1560
Panel with Grotesques, by Alesandro Allori, c. 1560... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
The Harvesters, by Pieter Breugel the Elder, 1565
The Harvesters, by Pieter Breugel the Elder, 1565... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
Henry III of France, by Jean de Court (?), c. 1570
Henry III of France, by Jean de Court (?), c. 1570... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Public Use
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew, by François Dubois, after 1576
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew, by François Dubois... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
Map of the New World, by Abraham Ortelius, 1587
Map of the New World, by Abraham Ortelius, 1587... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
Brazil: Cannibals killing and cooking Stade's defender, by Theodor de Bry, 1592
Brazil: Cannibals killing and cooking Stade's... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
The Edict of Nantes, 1598
The Edict of Nantes, 1598 Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Public Use
King Henry IV as Hercules with Hydra, by an Unknown Artist, c. 1600
King Henry IV as Hercules with Hydra, by an Unknown... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
King Henry IV of France, by Frans Pourbus the Younger, c. 1610
King Henry IV of France, by Frans Pourbus the... Contemporaneous Resource
Licensed for Private Use
Officer of the Imperial Guard on Horseback, by Théodore Géricault, 1812
Officer of the Imperial Guard on Horseback, by... Artistic Response
Licensed for Private Use
Un Matin devant la porte du Louvre, Édouard Debat-Ponsan, 1880
Un Matin devant la porte du Louvre, Édouard Debat-... Artistic Response
Licensed for Private Use
Path in Monet’s Garden at Giverny, by Claude Monet, 1902
Path in Monet’s Garden at Giverny, by Claude Monet... Artistic Response
Licensed for Private Use
Self-Portrait, by Pablo Picasso, 1907
Self-Portrait, by Pablo Picasso, 1907 Artistic Response
Licensed for Private Use
Montaigne's Essays, illustrated by Salvador Dali, 1947
Montaigne's Essays, illustrated by Salvador... Artistic Response
Hosted Offsite
The Life of Montaigne, by BBC Radio 4, 2010 Artistic Response
Hosted Offsite