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Authors: Sarah Bakewell

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17. Q. How to live? A. Reflect on everything; regret nothing

1
Joyce, J.
Finnegans Wake:
these examples given in Burgess, A.,
Here Comes Everybody
, rev. edn (London: Arena, 1987), 189–90.

2
Montaigne was a different person in the past: III:2 748–9. “We are all patchwork”: II:1 296.

3
“Who does not see …?” III:9 876.

4
“Not their end”: Woolf, V., “Montaigne,” 77.

5
1588 edition: Montaigne,
Essais
, “5th edn” (1588): see “Sources.”

6
“It is the inattentive reader”: III:9 925. 288 “For my part”: III:8 872.

7
“In order to get more in”: I:40 224. Plutarch’s pointing finger: I:26 140.

8
“It gathers force”: this is written on the title page of the “Bordeaux Copy”:
Montaigne: Essais
.
Reproduction en fac-similé
. Source is Virgil,
Aeneid
, 4: 169–77.

9
“I fear I am getting worse”: Montaigne to A. Loisel, inscription on a copy of the 1588
Essais
, in
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1332.

18. Q. How to live? A. Give up control

1
On Marie de Gournay: Fogel; Ilsley; Tetel (ed.),
Montaigne et Marie de Gournay;
Nakam, G., “Marie le Jars de Gournay, ‘fille d’alliance’ de Montaigne (1565–1645),” in Arnould (ed.),
Marie de Gournay et l’édition de 1595 des
Essais
de Montaigne
, 11–21. Her collected works are available as Gournay,
Oeuvres complètes
(2002).

2
“A woman pretending to learning”: Gournay,
Apology for the Woman Writing
(1641 version), as translated by Hillman and Quesnel in their edition of Gournay,
Apology for the Woman Writing and Other Works
, 107–54, this 126.

3
Tangle of intellect and emotion: Gournay,
Peincture des moeurs
, in
L’Ombre de la demoiselle de Gournay
(1626), as cited in Ilsley 129.

4
Hellebore: Gournay,
Preface
(1998) 27.

5
“How did he know all that about me?” Levin:
The Times
(Dec. 2, 1991), p. 14. “It seems he is my very self”: Gide, A.,
Montaigne
(London & New York: Blackamore Press, 1929), 77–8. “Here is a ‘you’ ”: Zweig, “Montaigne” 17.

6
Meeting: Gournay,
Preface
(1998) 27.

7
Bodkin: I:14 49. In the Bordeaux Copy, he only says “a girl,” but Gournay’s own edition specifies “a girl in Picardy” whom he saw just before his trip to Blois.

8
Working together in Picardy: in fact, only three of the new additions are in her handwriting.
Montaigne: Essais. Reproduction en fac-similé
, ff. 42v., 47r. and 290v. See Hoffmann, G. and Legros, A., “Sécretaires,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
901–4, this 901.

9
“The man whom I am so honored in calling father” and “I cannot, Reader”: Gournay,
Preface
(1998) 27, 29. “In truth, if someone is surprised”: Gournay,
The Promenade of Monsieur de Montaigne
, in Gournay,
Apology for the Woman Writing
[etc.], 21–67, this 29.

10
Léonor as Gournay’s sister: Ilsley 34.

11
“Nor is there any fear”: Gournay,
The Promenade of Monsieur de Montaigne
, in Gournay,
Apology for the Woman Writing
[etc.] 21–67, this 32. “He was mine for only four years” and “When he praised me”: Gournay,
Preface to the
Essays 99.

12
“She is the only person I still think about.” II:17 610. Suspicions about this passage date back to Arthur-Antoine Armaingaud, who queried it in a speech published in the first
Bulletin of the Société des Amis de Montaigne
in 1913. See Keffer 129. She deleted it from her 1635 edition of the
Essais
. On slips falling out: see e.g. I:18 63n. and I:21 624n. in D. Frame’s edition of the
Complete Works
. On the rebinding of the Bordeaux Copy, see Desan, P., “Exemplaire de Bordeaux,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
363–8, this 366.

13
Letters to Lipsius: Gournay to Lipsius April 25, 1593 and May 2, 1596, as translated in Ilsley 40–1 and 79–80; Lipsius to Gournay, May 24, 1593, published in Lipsius, J.,
Epistolarum selectarum centuria prima ad Belgas
(Antwerp: Moret, 1602), I:15, and here as translated in Ilsley 42.

14
The
Proumenoir:
Gournay, M. de,
Le Proumenoir de Monsieur de Montaigne
(Paris: A. l’Angelier, 1594), translated in Gournay,
Apology for the Woman Writing
[etc.] 21–67. Its origins explained in the epistle: 25.

15
Gournay’s edition: Montaigne,
Essais
(1595): see “Sources.”

16
On her last-minute corrections: Sayce and Maskell 28 (entry 7A); and Céard, J., “Montaigne et ses lecteurs: l’édition de 1595,” a paper given in a debate about the 1595 edition at the Bibliothèque nationale in 2002, 1–2,
http://www.amisdemontaigne.net/cearded1595.pdf
.

17
Gournay as protector: Gournay,
Preface to the
Essays: “Having lost their father”: 101. “When I defend him”: 43. “One cannot deal with great affairs”: 53. “Whoever says of Scipio”: 79. “Excellence exceeds all limits”: and “ravished”: 81. Judging people by what they think of the
Essays:
31. Diderot: article “Pyrrhonienne,” in the
Encyclopédie
, cited in Tilley 269.

18
“I cannot take a step”: Gournay,
Preface to the
Essays 85. On the contradictions between her personality and Montaigne’s: Bauschatz, C. M., “Imitation, writing, and self-study in Marie de Gournay’s 1595 ‘Préface’ to Montaigne’s
Essais,”
in Logan, M. R. and Rudnytsky, P. L. (eds),
Contending Kingdoms
(Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1991), 346–64, this 346.

19
“Blessed indeed”: Gournay,
Preface to the
Essays 35.

20
Change of mind about the Preface: Gournay to Lipsius, May 2, 1596, cited McKinley, M., “An editorial revival: Gournay’s 1617 Preface to the
Essais,” Montaigne Studies
7 (1996), 193. The ten-line preface was used in all seventeenth-century editions up to 1617, when the longer one returned in a revised form: Montaigne:
Essais
, ed. Gournay (Paris: J. Petit-pas, 1617). A different version had meanwhile appeared in Gournay,
Le Proumenoir
(1599).

21
Lacking piety: Gournay,
Peincture des moeurs
, in
L’Ombre
(1626). See Ilsley 129. On Gournay as a secret
libertine:
Dotoli, G., “Montaigne et les libertins via Mlle de Gournay,” in Tetel (ed.),
Montaigne et Marie de Gournay
105–41.

22
On the Académie: Ilsley 217–42. Gournay’s views on style: Ilsley 200–16, and Holmes, P. P., “Mlle de Gournay’s defense of Baroque imagery,”
French Studies
8 (1954), 122–31, this 122–9.

23
Gournay’s epitaph: cited Ilsley 262. On her changing reputation after death: Ilsley 266–77. “Nothing can equal”: Niceron, J.-P.,
Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire des hommes illustres dans la République des lettres
(Paris, 1727–45), XVI:231 (1733), cited Ilsley 270.

24
Gournay as leech: this accusation was most notably made by Chapelain, who was connected with a planned rival Elzevir edition: see Boase,
Fortunes
54, and Ilsley 255.

25
“White-haired old maid”: Rat, M., introduction to Montaigne,
Oeuvres complètes
(Paris: Gallimard, 1962), as translated by R. Hillman in Gournay,
Apology for the Woman Writing
18. Villey: Villey,
Montaigne devant la postérité
44.

26
Reviving reputation: Schiff, M.,
La Fille d’alliance de Montaigne, Marie de Gournay
(Paris: H. Champion, 1910). Novels based on her life: Mairal, M.,
L’Obèle
(Paris: Flammarion, 2003), and Diski, J.,
Apology for the Woman Writing
(London: Virago, 2008). New scholarly editions include that of her complete works: Gournay,
Oeuvres complètes
(2002).

27
The editing wars: see Keffer, including his translation of the letters of Cagnieul: 62–3; and Desan, P., “Cinq siècles de politiques éditoriales des Essais,” in Desan,
Montaigne dans tous ses états
(121–91).

28
On Strowski’s boasting: Compagnon, A., “Les Repentirs de Fortunat Strowski,” in Tetel (ed.),
Montaigne et Marie de Gournay
53–77, this 69. On Armaingaud’s dating: Keffer 18–19. His attribution of the
Servitude volontaire:
Armaingaud, A.,
Montaigne pamphlétaire
(Paris: Hachette, 1910). “He alone knows him”: Perceval, E. de, article in the
Bulletin de la Société des Bibliophiles de Guyenne
(1936), translated in Keffer 163. On Villey: Defaux, G., “Villey, Pierre,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
1023–4. On his blindness: Villey, P., “Le Travail intellectuel des aveugles,”
Revue des deux mondes
(1 mars 1909), 420–43. On not being invited in 1933: Keffer 21.

29
Among later twentieth-century editions to prioritize the Bordeaux Copy were the Pléaide edition by A. Thibaudet and M. Rat: Montaigne,
Oeuvres complètes
(Paris: Gallimard, 1962), used by D. Frame for his translation, and the revised version of Villey’s edition: Montaigne,
Les Essais
,
ed. P. Villey and V.-L. Saulnier (Paris: PUF, 1965).

30
Dezeimeris hypothesis: Dezeimeris, R.,
Recherche sur la recension du texte posthume des
Essais
de Montaigne
(Bordeaux: Gounouihou, 1866). Working out the logistics, and on this theory in general: Maskell, D., “Quel est le dernier état authentique des Essais de Montaigne?”
Bibliothèque d’humanisme et Renaissance
40 (1978), 85–103, and his “The evolution of the
Essais,”
in McFarlane and Maclean (eds),
Montaigne: Essays in Memory of Richard Sayce
13–34; Desan, P., “L
‘Exemplar
et L’Exemplaire de Bordeaux,” in Desan,
Montaigne dans tous ses états
69–120; Balsamo, J. and Blum, C., “Édition de 1595,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
306–12; Arnould, J-C. (ed.),
Marie de Gournay et l’édition de 1595 des
Essais
de Montaigne;
O’Brien.

31
The new Pléiade edition and the Tournon edition: see “Sources” for full details. A. Tournon and J. Céard, representing the two positions, took part in a debate at the Bibliothèque nationale on Feb. 9, 2002, “Les deux visages des
Essais”
(The Two Faces of the
Essays):
see their two papers at
http://www.amisdemontaigne.net/visagesessais.htm
.

32
De-cluttering: Montaigne,
Essays
, ed. Honoria (1800).

33
Charron: Charron,
De la Sagesse
. Relations of humans to animals: 72–86. On Charron, see Gontier, E., “Charron, Pierre,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
155–9. “Remake”: Bellenger 188. Charron,
Petit traité de la sagesse
(Paris, 1625).

34
Bad copyist: Montaigne,
Les Essais
, ed. Gournay (Paris: Jean Camusat, 1635), Preface, cited Villey,
Montaigne devant la postérité
162.

35
Purified essences:
L’Esprit des Essais de Montaigne
(Paris: C. de Sercy, 1677).
Pensées de Montaigne, propres à former l’esprit et les moeurs
(Paris: Anisson, 1700), which includes “There are few books so bad”: 5.

36
“Moby-Dick
must have been difficult”: Ben Hoyle, “Publisher makes lite work of the classics,”
The Times
(April 14, 2007). “Every abridgment of a good book is a stupid abridgment”: III:8 872.

37
“Diverse and undulating”: I:15. “Double within ourselves”: II:16 570.

38
The subconscious, and Conley’s example: Conley. Montaigne’s remark that he knew of Rome before he knew of the Louvre: III:9 927. “Embabooned”: III:9 928. Conley refers to Cotgrave, R.,
A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues
(London: A. Islip, 1611):
embabouyner
meant “to deceive, gull, ride, bring into a fools Paradise; to give sucke unto; to use like a child.”

39
“Where we are to go, if we like”: I:26 140.

40
“The hundredth commentator”: III:13 995. “See how Plato is moved”: II:12 538.

41
“There has been enough about this book”: III:13 995. “An able reader”: I:24 112. “I have read in Livy”: I:26 140.

42
“Minds are threaded together”: Woolf, V.,
A Passionate Apprentice: The Early Journals
, ed. M. A. Leaska (London: Hogarth, 1990), 178–9. Cited in Lee, H.,
Virginia Woolf
(London: Vintage, 1997), 171.

19. Q. How to live? A. Be ordinary and imperfect

1
“I set forth a humble and inglorious life”: III:2 740.

2
“I have at least this profit”: II:37 698. Also, on becoming habituated to the kidney-stone attacks and to his proximity to death: III:13 1019.

3
“Down a gentle and virtually imperceptible slope”: I:20 76. See also III:13 1020, III:13 1030. “Is there anything so sweet”: III:13 1021.

4
Finding pleasure in the midst of the attacks: III:5 775. “There is pleasure”: III:13 1019.

5
“I am already growing reconciled”: II:37 697.

6
“A silly and decrepit pride”: III:2 752.

7
“Our being is cemented”: III:1 726–7.

8
“Thickened and obscured” and “There is no need”: II:20 621–2.

9
Montaigne’s letters to Henri IV are included in Montaigne,
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1332–6. On his visitors: Frame,
Montaigne
303–4.

10
Léonor and her children: this daughter Françoise died in early adulthood, but another daughter of Léonor’s by a second marriage, Marie de Gamaches, grew up to inherit the Montaigne estate and to pass it on through the family for centuries. Frame:
Montaigne
303–4. On the Gamaches family: Legros, A., “Gamaches (famille de),” Desan,
Dictionnaire
425–6.

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