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What Do I Know?

Essential Essays
By Michel De Montaigne
Series: Pushkin Press Deluxe Classic
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Brief Description
A selection of Michel de Montaigne's most profound, searching essays, in a new translation and stunning hardback edition featuring an introduction by Yiyun Li 'I myself am the subject of my book'. So wrote Montaigne in the introductory note to his Essays, the book that marked... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$5200

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A selection of Michel de Montaigne's most profound, searching essays, in a new translation and stunning hardback edition featuring an introduction by Yiyun Li

'I myself am the subject of my book'. So wrote Montaigne in the introductory note to his Essays, the book that marked the birth of the modern essay form. In works of probing intelligence and idiosyncratic observation, Montaigne moved from intimate personal reflection to roving theories of the conduct of kings and cannibals, the effects of sorrow and fear, and the fallibility of human memory and judgement.

This new selection of Montaigne's most ingenious essays appears in a lucid new translation by the prize-winning David Coward. What Do I Know? offers the modern reader profound insight into a great Renaissance mind.

Series: Pushkin Press Deluxe Classic

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  • What Do I Know?
    What Do I Know?
    A selection of Michel de Montaigne's most profound, searching essays, in a new translation and stunning hardback edition featuring an introduction by Yiyun Li 'I myself am the subject of my book'. So wrote Montaigne in the introductory note to his Essays, the book that marked the birth of the modern essay form. In works of probing intelligence and idiosyncratic...
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781782278832

Publisher: Pushkin Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 23 October 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Pushkin Press Classics

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Yiyun Li
  • Translated by David Coward
  • Translated by David Coward
  • Introduction by Yiyun Li

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 192

Collections

Arts & Culture Biography & Memoir Michel De Montaigne Non-Fiction Philosophy & Psychology Philosophy & Stoicism Series: Pushkin Press Deluxe Classic

About the Author

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was born on his family estate in Aquitaine, not far from Bordeaux. Raised speaking Greek and Latin, he studied law before embarking on a career of public service, first as a counselor of court in Périgueux and Bordeaux, then as a courtier to Charles IX. Following the death of his father, Montaigne retired from public life to the Tower of his château to read and write. He published the first two volumes of his landmark Essays in 1580, with a third following in 1588; the complete Essays appeared posthumously in 1595.

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  • What Do I Know?
    I myself am the subject of my book. So wrote Montaigne in the introductory note to his Essays, the book that marked the birth of the modern essay form. In works of probing intelligence and idiosyncratic observation, Montaigne moved from intimate personal reflection to roving theories of the conduct of kings and cannibals, the effects of sorrow and fear, and...
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