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THE JOURNAL OF
MONTAIGNE’S TRAVELS
IN ITALY
THE JOURNAL OF
MONTAIGNE’S TRAVELS
IN ITALY BY WAY OF SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY IN 1580 AND 1581
TRANSLATED AND EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
By W. G. WATERS
AUTHOR OF “JEROME CARDAN,” ETC.
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. I
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1903
PREFACE
Up to February 16, 1581, the “Journal” of Montaigne’s travels waswritten down from dictation by a confidential servant, who seems tohave combined the duties of secretary and valet. On the date aforesaidMontaigne either dismissed him or gave him leave of absence, and set towork to keep the diary himself. The portion of the “Journal” writtenby the secretary presents certain difficulties in translation, seeingthat he wrote sometimes in the first and sometimes in the third person,and occasionally had to describe events which happened in his absence,but as far as possible uniform diction has been secured. In the earlierpart Montaigne added divers notes to the margin of the MS. in his ownhandwriting, thus showing that he revised that portion which he did notwrite. From May 15, to November 1, 1581, Montaigne used the Italiantongue, reverting to French as soon as he crossed Mont Cenis.
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A translation of the “Journal” was made by W. Hazlitt in 1842 andannexed to his edition of Cotton’s “Essays.” In a recent reprint ofthe “Essays” and of all the extant “Letters,” Mr. W. C. Hazlitt, in anintroduction, remarks, as a reason for not including the “Journal,”that it is all in the third person, and was dictated by Montaigne tohis secretary, being unaware, apparently, that more than half of it waswritten in the first person by Montaigne himself.
The portions of the “Journal” which deal with Montaigne’s sojourn atthe baths of Lucca are full of details of the symptoms of the maladywhich troubled him, and of the results of the curative treatment. Inthese it has been thought permissible to abbreviate some passagesand to omit others entirely, seeing that they are at the same timevalueless and unpleasant. But not a word which refers to any matterof general interest has been repressed; uninteresting medical detailsalone have been left out.
W. G. WATERS.
August 1903.
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CONTENTS
| CHAP. | PAGE | |
| INTRODUCTION | 1 | |
| I. | FRANCE | 25 |