MONTAIGNE, Michel Eyquem de (1533-1592). Les essais de Michel seigneur de Montaigne. Edition nouvelle, trouvee apres le deceds de l'Autheur, reveuë & augmentée par luy d'un tiers plus qu'aux precedentes Impreßions . Paris: Abel l’Angelier, 1595.Tall, wide-margined copy of the first posthumous edition , scrupulously edited by Montaigne's adopted daughter, Marie le Jars de Gournay, and set from a transcription of the 1588 Bordeaux copy sent to her by Montaigne’s widow. 'Exceptional care was taken to ensure the accuracy of this edition' (Sayce and Maskell) which comprises all three parts (two parts only had been previously published in Bordeaux in 1580). Printing was divided between Michel Sonnius and Abel l'Angelier. Copies with the Sonnius imprint do not include the preface ‘Au lecteur’ found in the Angelier copies. The present copy is in an intermediate state. While the privilege on the verso of the title is dated 15 October 1594, and the preface ‘Au lecteur’ is present, it does not start with the expected ‘Cecy est un livre de bonne foi’, but with ‘C’est icy un Livre de bonne foy’ . Similarly, it does not have the cancels on pp. 63-64 and 69-70, and while pp. 144 is (3M6v) misnumbered 44, pp. 78 (G3v) is present and 228 (T6v) is correctly numbered. Finally, the running titles are as described in the non-variant by Sayce & Maskell. ‘Montaigne devised the essay form in which to express his personal convictions and private meditations, a form in which he can hardly be said to have been anticipated. The most elaborate essay, the Apologie de Raimond Sebonde , is second to no other modern writing in attacking fanaticism and pleading for tolerance. He finds a place in the present canon, however, chiefly for his consummate representation of the enlightened scepticism of the sixteenth century, to which Bacon, Descartes, and Newton were to provide the answers in the next’ (PMM). Graesse VI, 579; see PMM (for the first 1580 edition). Sayce and Maskell 7A(a); Tchemerzine VIII, 408.Provenance : VA or V V (monogram on binding) – V. Goiset (signature on free endpaper) – Léon Duchesne de la Sicotière (1812-1895, bookplate; ?his note referencing an article in Les Archives du Bibliophile 1859 on front blank).
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