The design of Montaigne's Essais / Vittoria Fallanca.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fallanca, Vittoria, author.

Series:

Oxford modern languages and literature monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Montaigne, Michel de, 1533-1592. Essais.

Montaigne, Michel de.

Drawing--Design.

Drawing.

Design.

Essais (Montaigne, Michel de).

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations (some color).

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2026]

Summary:

What can design tell us about literature? What can literature tell us about design? 'The Design of Montaigne's Essais' provides a model for answering these questions by analysing the uses and function of the term dessein. Wresting design free from its intentionalist connotations and focusing instead on the polysemy of the term in its early modern usage, which connoted both a mental plan or intention, and a material drawing or sketch, this study emphasises the open-ended design of the Essais, placing particular importance on its affinities with the practice of sketching. Looking across the Italian border at theories and practices of drawing, the book places Montaigne's dessein in dialogue with its Italian counterpart disegno, arguing for the importance of the visual dimension in Montaigne's thinking, and in his writerly imagination.

Contents:

Introduction : dessein, centre stage

Painterly designs : self-portraiture reimagined

Writerly designs : Montaigne and the language of dessein

Montaigne’s maniera

Designed objects

Epilogue : essaying design.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Online resource; title from home page (Oxford Academic, viewed March 31, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version: Fallanca, Vittoria. Design of Montaigne's Essais

ISBN:

9780198985501

0198985509

9780198985495

0198985495

9780198985518

0198985517

OCLC:

1571474984

Publisher Number:

CIPO000349390

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license