Montaigne: Selected Essays: with La Botie's Discourse on Voluntary Servitude

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'This new edition of Montaigne's most important essays is a superb achievement, one that successfully brings together in accessible form the work of two major writers of Renaissance France. The translation by James B. Atkinson and David Sices is accurate, clear, readable, and conveys Montaigne's personable style elegantly to modern readers of English. The notes are authoritative and learned, but never intrusive, and the Introduction beautifully places Montaigne's work in context. No less impressive is the inclusion of an elegant English version of La Botie's Discourse on Voluntary Servitude, which is both a key to understanding much of Montaigne and a major piece of early modern political thought.' Timothy Hampton, Professor of French and Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley

Reviews

A superb achievement, one that successfully brings together in accessible form the work of two major writers of Renaissance France. This is now the default version of Montaigne in English. --Timothy Hampton, Professor of French and Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley
Inspired. In every page--beginning with Atkinson's brilliant Introduction--this magical Montaigne betrays a lifetime of meditation on its subject. --Stephen G. Nichols, James M. Beall Professor Emeritus of French and Humanities, Johns Hopkins University
The translators pull off the difficult trick of capturing the whole spectrum of Montaigne's voices. . . . A thorough, engaging, and wholly readable translation, whose rich and informative guidance for the non-specialist will also be of use for academic readers and teachers of the period. --William McKenzie, St. Hilda's College, Oxford (adapted from MLR)
"The inclusion of La Botie' Discourse truly sets this new translation apart. If La Botie' thesis does not resonate with today' undergraduates, then we should all truly begin to despair. Highly recommended." --Michael Wolfe, St. John's University (adapted from Sixteenth Century Journal )

Author Bio

James B. Atkinson is an independent scholar. David Sices is Professor Emeritus of French and Italian, Dartmouth College.