Publisher. John Murray, London, 1903, (first edition) 3 VOLS.
Hardback, no D/J, The books are uniformly bound in the original green with gold titling and designs on the spine and gold designs on the front board, with ix and 195 pages, a frontispiece and 10 illustrations in volume 1; vii and 209 pages, a frontispiece and 15 illustrations in volume 2; and vii with 214 pages, a frontispiece and 7 illustrations in volume 3. Top edges gilt. The cases of the books are in very good condition with some shelf wear on the boards and darkening with some foxing to the spines. There is wear to the cloth on the spine corners and a little damage and loss to the cloth on the bottom of the spine of volume 1. The contents are tight and clean with some foxing on the endpapers, mostly noticeable in volume 1. A name, place and date (1946) is written on the front free endpaper of all three volumes (the name is on a strip of paper pasted onto the endpaper and appears to cover a different name).

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592), also known as Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance, known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. His work is noted for its merging of casual anecdotes and autobiography with spiritual insight. He is best known for his ‘Essais’, a collection of a large number of short subjective essays on various topics.

A scarce and attractive three-volume edition of his Journal, translated and edited with an introduction and notes by William George Waters (1844-1928).