Quarto. [2], xviii, 95pp, [1]. Uncut and partially unopened in original publisher's marbled wrappers. Extremities worn.

A rare survival, in original unsophisticated state, of the second (and final) edition of a critical memoir of French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592); initially published in 1740 under the title Suplement aux Essais de Michel Seigneur de Montagne.

Montaigne developed the essay form in order to express his personal convictions, private meditations, and the enlightened scepticism for which he is most notably known. The influence of the essays upon European intellectualism throughout the subsequent centuries cannot be overstated; Bacon, Descartes, and Newton would all acknowledge their debt to Montaigne.

ESTC records copies at just three locations in the British Isles (Senate House, NLS, and NT), and two further worldwide (Harvard and SBB).