W. C. Hazlitt says of Montaigne---he was without being aware of it, the leader of a new school in letters and morals- and -the first modern man.- He has been universally admired in his time and since. In his essays, Montaigne -has the courage to say as an author what he feels as a man-, and as such is the forerunner to modern literary non-fiction, and he remains the most accessible and relevant renaissance author. This edition contains Montaigne's complete essays, and a collection of letters.