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 The Cambridge Companion
to the Essay

The Cambridge Companion to the Essay considers the history, theory, and
aesthetics of the essay from the moment it’s named in the late sixteenth century
to the present. What is an essay? What can the essay do or think or reveal or
know that other literary forms cannot? What makes a piece of writing essayistic?
How can essays bring about change? Over the course of seventeen chapters by a
diverse group of scholars, The Companion reads the essay in relation to poetry,
fiction, natural science, philosophy, critical theory, postcolonial and decolonial
thinking, studies in race and gender, queer theory, and the history of literary
criticism. This book studies the essay in its written, photographic, cinematic,
and digital forms, with a special emphasis on how the essay is being reshaped
and reimagined in the twenty-first century, making it a crucial resource for
scholars, students, and essayists.

Kara Wittman is Assistant Professor of English and Director of College Writing

at Pomona College, where she also directs the Center for Speaking, Writing,
and the Image. In addition to her work on the essay, she has published on
wonder, originality, clarity, and small forms of communication: phatic utter-
ances, marginalia, talking birds.

Evan Kindley is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Pomona College. He

is the author of Poet-Critics and the Administration of Culture (2017) and
Questionnaire (2016) and a founding editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books.
T H E C A M BR I DG E
C OM PA N ION TO
T H E E S SAY

edited by

KARA WITTMAN
Pomona College

EVAN KINDLEY
Pomona College
 University Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom
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Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.

It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781316519776
doi: 10.1017/9781009022255
© Cambridge University Press 2023
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2023
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
names: Wittman, Kara, editor. | Kindley, Evan, editor.
title: The Cambridge companion to the essay / edited by Kara Wittman,
Evan Kindley.
description: Cambridge ; New York, ny : Cambridge University Press, 2023. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
identifiers: lccn 2022016872 | isbn 9781316519776 (hardback) |
isbn 9781009022255 (ebook)
subjects: lcsh: Essay – History and criticism. | BISAC: LITERARY CRITICISM /
Semiotics & Theory
Classification: lcc pn4500 .c364 2023 | ddc 808.4–dc23/eng/20220708
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022016872
isbn 978-1-316-51977-6 Hardback
isbn 978-1-009-01114-3 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of
URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
 CON TEN TS

List of Figures page vii

List of Contributors viii
Acknowledgments xii
Chronology: 440 Years of Essays xiii

Introduction 1
Kara Wittman and Evan Kindley

Pa r t I F or m s of t h e E s s ay

1 Remembering the Essay 17

Jeff Dolven

2 The Personal Essay 32

Merve Emre

3 The Critical Essay 49

Frances Ferguson

4 The Nature Essay 64

Daegan Miller

5 The Essay in Theory 78

Kara Wittman

Pa r t I I T h e Wor k of t h e E s s ay

6 Experimental Science and the Essay 97

Julianne Werlin
v
 Contents

7 Essay, Enlightenment, Revolution 111

Anahid Nersessian

8 The Essay, Abolition, and Racial Blackness 126

Jesse M c Carthy

9 The Utopian Essay 141

Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado

10 Ethics and the Essay 154

David Russell

11 Essay and Empire 167

Saikat Majumdar

12 Unqueering the Essay 182

Grace Lavery

Pa r t I I I T e c h n ol o g i e s of t h e E s s ay

13 The Essay and the Novel 199

Jason Childs

14 Lyric, Essay 215

Claire Grossman, Juliana Spahr, and Stephanie Young

15 The Photograph as Essay 229

Kevin Adonis Browne

16 The Essay Film 246

Nora M. Alter

17 The Essay Online 263

Jane Hu

Further Reading 279

Index 283

vi
 FIGURES

15.1 Kevin Adonis Browne, Portrait of My Grandfather

at Home, 2016 page 229
15.2 Kevin Adonis Browne, Portrait of My Grandfather Waiting
at the Dinner Table, 2017 233
15.3 Kevin Adonis Browne, Portrait of My Grandfather
Looking South, Toward the Coast, 2017 236
15.4 Kevin Adonis Browne, Portrait of My Grandfather
Regarding Himself, 2017 238
15.5 Kevin Adonis Browne, Portrait of My Grandfather
Regarding the Southeastern Slope, 2018 240
15.6 Kevin Adonis Browne, Portrait of My Grandfather
from Overhead, 2018 242
15.7 Kevin Adonis Browne, Portrait of My Grandfather, At Last,
Regarded from Distance, 2018 243

vii
 CON TRIBU TORS

Nora M. Alter is Professor of Film and Media Arts at Temple Univer-

sity. She is author of several books including Vietnam Protest Theatre:
The Television War on Stage (Indiana University Press, 1996), Sound
Matters: Essays on the Acoustics of German Culture (Berghahn Books,
2004), Chris Marker (University of Illinois Press, 2006), Essays on the
Essay Film (Columbia University Press, 2017), and The Essay Film after
Fact and Fiction (Columbia University Press, 2018). Future publications
include a monograph on Harun Farocki.

Kevin Adonis Browne is a Caribbean–American photographer and essayist.

He has authored two books: Tropic Tendencies: Rhetoric, Popular Culture,
and the Anglophone Caribbean (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013) and
HIGH MAS: Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture (University Press
of Mississippi, 2018). He is Associate Professor of Writing Studies, Rhetoric,
and Composition at Syracuse University.

Jason Childs is an independent scholar and essayist living in Berlin, Ger-

many. He has contributed chapters to The Essay at the Limits (Blooms-
bury, 2021) and The Edinburgh Companion to the Essay (Edinburgh
University Press, 2022). He is the editor, with Denise Gigante, of The
Cambridge History of the British Essay and, with Christy Wampole,
of The Cambridge History of the American Essay, both forthcoming in
2023.

Jeff Dolven teaches poetics at Princeton University and has written essays
on prosody, handles, Shakespeare’s reading, milk, Fairfield Porter, and
player pianos, as well as essay-books on paraphrase and animal testing.
He is also a poet and an editor-at-large at Cabinet magazine and was
founding director of Princeton’s Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in
the Humanities.
viii
 List of Contributors

Merve Emre is Associate Professor of English at the University of Oxford.

She is the author and editor of several books, including Post-Discipline:
Literature, Professionalism, and the Crisis of the Humanities, forthcom-
ing in 2022. She is a regular contributor to the New Yorker and New
York Review of Books.

Frances Ferguson is Mabel Greene Myers Distinguished Service Pro-

fessor at the University of Chicago. She works on the rise of mass edu-
cation in the late eighteenth century and has published on various topics
including aesthetics and legal thought in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.

Claire Grossma n is a PhD candidate in English literature at Stanford

University. Her research focuses on literary and economic discourses
of race in the postwar US. Her recent writing with Juliana Spahr and
Stephanie Young appears in American Literary History and Public
Books.

Jane Hu is a writer with a PhD in English and Film & Media at the Uni-
versity of California, Berkeley. Her work has been published in venues
such as Textual Practice, Modernism/modernity Print+, Modern Fiction
Studies, Verge: Studies in Global Asia, Victorian Studies, as well as the
New Yorker, New York Times, Bookforum, Harper’s, and the Nation,
among others.

Evan Kindley is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Pomona Col-

lege. He is the author of Poet-Critics and the Administration of Culture
(Harvard University Press, 2017) and Questionnaire (Bloomsbury, 2016)
and a founding editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books. His scholar-
ship has appeared in Critical Inquiry and English Literary History and he
is a regular contributor to the Nation, New York Review of Books, and
the New Republic.

Grace Lavery is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the

University of California, Berkeley and general editor of Transgender Stud-
ies Quarterly. She is the author of Quaint, Exquisite: Victorian Aesthetics
and the Idea of Japan (Princeton University Press, 2020), which won the
NAVSA Best Book of the Year prize, and of Please Miss, an experimental
memoir (Seal Press, 2022). Her essays have appeared in Critical Inquiry,
Foreign Policy, Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, and
English Literary History.

ix
 List of Contributors

Saikat Majumdar is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Ashoka

University. He has published several books of fiction and criticism,
including Prose of the World: Modernism and the Banality of Empire
(Columbia University Press, 2013), The Firebird/Play House (Hachette
India Local, 2015/Permanent Press, 2015), and The Critic as Amateur
(Bloomsbury, 2019), a collection of essays coedited with Aarthi Vadde.
He writes a column for the Los Angeles Review of Books, “Another Look
at India’s Books.”

Jesse M c Carthy is Assistant Professor of English and of African and Afri-

can American Studies at Harvard University. He is the author of Who
Will Pay Reparations on My Soul? Essays (Liveright, 2021) and a novel,
The Fugitivities (Melville House, 2021), and winner of a 2022 Whiting
Award. He edited the Norton Library edition of W. E. B. Du Bois’s The
Souls of Black Folk (2022) and is co-editor with Joshua Bennett of the
Penguin anthology of African American poetry, Minor Notes. His essays
and reviews have appeared in The Nation, Dissent, n+1, and The Point,
where he is also a contributing editor.

Daegan Miller is an essayist and critic whose first book, This Radical
Land: A Natural History of American Dissent (University of Chicago
Press, 2018), was chosen by both the Guardian and Literary Hub as a
best of 2018.

Anahid Nersessian is Professor of English at the University of California.

She is the author of Utopia, Limited: Romanticism and Adjustment (Har-
vard University Press, 2015), The Calamity Form: On Poetry and Social
Life (University of Chicago Press, 2020), and Keats’s Odes: A Lover’s Dis-
course (University of Chicago Press, 2021). She edited the Broadview Press
edition of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Laon and Cythna; or, the Revolution of
the Golden City (2016) and founded and coedits the Thinking Literature
series, published by the University of Chicago Press.

David Russell is Associate Professor of English at the University of Oxford,

where he is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. His most recent book is
Tact: Aesthetic Liberalism and the Essay Form in Nineteenth-Century Brit-
ain (Princeton University Press, 2018). He is currently writing books about
John Ruskin and Marion Milner.

Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado is the Jarvis Thurston and Mona van Duyn
Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. He is

x
 List of Contributors

the author of several books, including Strategic Occidentalism: On Mex-

ican Fiction, the Neoliberal Book Market and the Question of World
Literature (Northwestern University Press, 2018). He also writes essays
about and is editor of various collections on Mexican and Latin American
literature, film, and theory.

Juliana Spahr is Professor of Literature and Languages and Dean of

Graduate Studies at Mills College. Her research focuses on literature’s
complicated relationship to nation-state politics, with a special interest
in its relationship to resistance movements. Her most recently scholarly
book is Du Bois’s Telegram (Harvard University Press, 2018).

Julianne Werlin is Assistant Professor of Early Modern English Litera-

ture at Duke University. She is the author of Writing at the Origin of Cap-
italism: Literary Circulation and Social Change in Early Modern England
(Oxford University Press, 2021). Her current project is a prosopography
of English writers born between 1480 and 1680.

Kara Wittman is Assistant Professor of English and Director of College

Writing at Pomona College. She also directs the Center for Speaking,
Writing, and the Image at Pomona. In addition to her work on the essay,
she has published on wonder, originality, clarity, and small forms of com-
munication: phatic utterances, marginalia, talking birds.

Stephanie Young is Director of the Creative Writing Program at Mills

College. Her recent books of poetry include Pet Sounds (Nightboat Books,
2019) and It’s No Good Everything’s Bad (Double Cross Press, 2018).

xi
 ACKNOW LEDGMEN TS

We want first to thank Ray Ryan at Cambridge University Press for helping
us imagine this Companion and for his enthusiasm for the project through-
out. We owe our deepest thanks to the eighteen writers in this volume, who
gave to it their time, their insight, and their unstinting brilliance. Thank
you also to Sarah Allison, Anne Dwyer, Joanne Nucho, and Friederike
von Schwerin-High for their contributions to our “440 Years of Essays”
chronology. This has been a collaborative project throughout, and we are
fortunate to have had two of the finest collaborators we could imagine as
we put this book together: Our warmest thanks to Ahana Ganguly and Vic-
tor Solórzano-Gringeri, both gifted essayists themselves, who assisted with
so many aspects of preparing and editing this book. Thank you also to the
students in our spring 2020 “Essay and Experiment” seminar at Pomona
College, all of whom, in the true adventurous spirit of the essay, persevered
in writing and thinking with us even when campus was evacuated at the
onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thanks to Andrew Ascherl for his careful
indexing and proofreading; any mistakes are strictly our own. Eric Bulson’s
advice on assembling a collection of this scope was invaluable. We also want
to thank each other for the pleasure of teaching, writing, editing, and think-
ing together. Thank you to Robert Wittman for his Montaignean spirit, his
unfading inspiration. Thank you to our partners, Kent Puckett and Emily
Ryan Lerner, who were unflaggingly generous and supportive throughout.
And finally, to remind us every day of the curiosity, wonder, and joy that
live in the essay form, we have Agnes Kindley and Harry Puckett: This book
is for them.

xii
 CHRONOLOGY: 440 YEARS OF ESSAYS

We have selected the following texts to indicate the linguistic, cultural, and
aesthetic range of essays published between 1580, the year Michel de Mon-
taigne first published his Essais, and 2020, the year we began assembling this
book. Texts were selected according to one or more of several criteria: 1) they
were referred to, by their authors or others, as “essays” at the time of their
publication; 2) they were identified as (or re-titled) “essays” at some later point
in their publication, translation, or reception history; or 3) they display in their
form and their content what Claire de Obaldia calls “the essayistic spirit,”
whatever their original generic designation.1 We have tried to represent a wide
range of literary modes and traditions in different countries and languages;
our hope is that this chronology allows the reader to become familiar with
the broadest possible range of notable essayists writing and publishing in the
centuries after Montaigne. With few exceptions, texts are listed are in the lan-
guage of their original publication (with English translation, where applicable)
and according to the date of their first appearance. We note most exceptions,
which include some literary journals (published over intermittent years) and a
few essays for which the exact publication date is unknown.

1580 Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Essais [Essays], Books I-II

(France)
1581 Francisco Sanches, Quod nihil scitur [Nothing is Known]
(Portugal)
1582 Richard Hakluyt, Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of
America (England)
1583 Justus Lipsius, De constantia [On Constancy] (Belgium)
1584 James VI/I, Essayes of a Prentice, in the Diuine Art of Poesy
(England); Leon of Modena, Sur MeRa [A Philosophical Dia-
logue on Gambling] (Italy, date appx.)
1585 John Calvin, Institutes, English trans. (France)
1586 William Paulet, The Lord Marquess Idleness (England)
xiii
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1587 Montaigne, Essais, Book III composed (France)

1588 Montaigne, Essais, 5th ed. “Bordeaux Copy” (France)
1589 Jane Anger, Jane Anger, Her Protection for Women (England)
1590 Thomas Nashe, Almond for a Parrot (England)
1591 Robert Greene, Greene, his farewell to Follie (England)
1592 Montaigne dies September 13, 1592 in Bordeaux (France)
1593 Fray Juan de Plascencia, Doctrina Christiana [Christian Doc-
trine] (Philippines)
1594 Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Politie
(England)
1595 Montaigne, Essais, ed. Marie de Gournay (France); Sir Philip
Sidney, The Defence of Poesy (England)
1596 Yuan Hongdao, “Huqiu ji” [“Tiger Hill”] (China)
1597 Francis Bacon, Essayes. Religious Meditations. Places of per-
swasion and disswasion (England)
1598 Francis Meres, Palladis Tamia: Wits Treasury (England)
1599 Samuel Daniel, Poetical Essayes (England); Ulisse Aldrovandi,
Ornithologiae (Italy)
1600 Sir William Cornwallis the Younger, Essayes (England)
1601 Robert Johnson, Essaies, or Rather Imperfect Offers (England)
1602 Tommasso Campanella, La cittá del Sole [The City of the
Sun] (Italy)
1603 Montaigne, The Essayes; Or Morall, Politike, and Millitarie
Discourses, trans. John Florio (England)
1604 Joseph de Acosta, The Natural and Morall History of the
Indies (Spain)
1605 Alexander Craig, The Poeticall Essaies of Alexander Craig
(England)
1606 Thomas Palmer, An Essay of the Meanes how to make our
Trauailes, into forraine Countries, the more profitable and
honourable (England)
1607 William Alabaster, Apparatus in Revelationem Jesu Christi
(England)
1608 Daniel Tuvill, Essays Politic and Moral (England)
1609 Daniel Tuvill, Essays Moral and Theological (England)
1610 Pierre de Deimier, Académie de l’Art Poétique [Academy of
Poetic Art] (France)
1611 Thomas Coryat, Coryat’s Crudites (England)
1612 Francis Bacon, Essays (expanded) (England)
1613 Galileo Galilei, Tres Epistolae de Maculis Solaribus Scriptae
[Three Letters on Sunspots] (Italy)
xiv
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1614 Thomas Tuke, New Essayes: Meditations and Vowes (England)

1615 Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti, Miraj al-Suud ila nayl Majlub
al-Sudan [Ahmad Baba Answers a Moroccan’s Questions
about Slavery] (Western Sudan, date appx.)
1616 John Deacon, Tobacco tortured, or, The filthie fume
of tobacco refined shewing … that the inward taking of
tobacco fumes, is very pernicious vnto their bodies […]
(England)
1617 Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Comentarios Reales de los Incas
[Royal Commentaries of the Incas], vol. 2 (Viceroyalty of
Perú)
1618 Newes from Italie (news journal): or, A prodigious, and most
lamentable accident, latelie befallen concerning the swallow-
ing up of the whole citie of Pleurs: belonging unto the Signorie
of Venice (Italy)
1619 Samuel Purchas, Microcosmus, or The historie of man: relat-
ing the wonders of his generation, vanities in his generation,
necessity of his regeneration (England)
1620 Richard Braithwaite, Essaies upon the fiue senses (England)
1621 Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (England)
1622 Henry Peacham, The Complete Gentleman and the Truth of
Our Times, Revealed out of One Man’s Experience, by Way
of Essay (England)
1623 Owen Feltham, Resolves, Divine, Moral, and Political
(England)
1624 Jakob Böhme, 177 Theosophic Questions, with Answers to
Thirteen of Them, English trans. 1691 (Germany)
1625 Francis Bacon, Essays or Counsels, Civil and Morall...Newly
Enlarged (England)
1626 Jonatan de Sainct-Sernin, Essais et obseruations sur les essais
du Seigneur de Montaigne par le Sieur Jonatan de Sainst [sic]
Sernin [Essays and Observations on Montaigne’s Essays]
(France)
1627 Francis Bacon, posthumous release of The New Atlantis
(England)
1628 Anrakuan Sakuden, Seisuishō [Laughs to Keep You Awake]
(Japan); John Earle, Microcosmography, or A Piece of the
World Discovered in Essays and Characters (England)
1629 Arthur Blake, Sermons with Religious and Divine Medita-
tions (England)
1630 Koçi Bey, Risale (Ottoman Turkey)
xv
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1631 Shen Kuo, reprint of Mengxi Bitan [The Dream Pool Essays]
(appx. 1088 ce) (China)
1632 William Cornwallis, Essays (reprint) (England)
1633 Thomas James, The Strange and Dangerous Voyage of Cap-
taine Thomas James (Wales)
1634 Alonso Jerónimo de Salas Barbadillo, El Curioso y fabulo
Alexandro (Spain)
1635 William Scott, An Essay of Drapery, or The Compleate Citi-
zen (England)
1636 Edward Dacres, trans. Niccolò Machiavelli’s Discourses upon
the Decade of T. Livius (England)
1637 René Descartes, Discours de la méthode [Discourse on
Method] (France); William Austin, Haec Homo, Wherein the
excellency of the Creation of Woman is described, By Way of
an Essay (England)
1638 John Robinson, Essayes; or Observations Divine and Morall
(England)
1639 Stephen Daye, pub. The Freeman’s Oath (England/USA)
1640 Kinoshita Chōshōshi, On Ōhara (Japan)
1641 Ben Jonson, Timber: or Discoveries Made upon Men and
Matters: As They Have Flowed out of his Daily Reading …
(England); Jin Shengtan, “How to Read the Fifth Work of
Genius, Shuihu Zhuan [Water Margin]” (China)
1642 Baltasar Gracián, Arte de ingenio [The Mind’s Art] (Spain)
1643 Giuseppi Aromatari, Autori del Bel Parlare (Italy)
1644 John Milton, Areopagitica (England)
1645 Edward Herbert, On the Causes of Errors (England)
1646 John Hall, Horae vacivae, or Essays (England); Sir Thomas
Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica (England)
1647 John Cotton, The Bloudy Tenent, wash’d and made white in
the bloud of the Lambe (Colonial America)
1648 Walter Montagu, Miscellania Spiritualia: or, Devout Essayes
(England)
1649 Georg Phillip Harsdörffer, Frauenzimmer-Gesprächspiele
[Garrulous Games for Women] (Germany)
1650 Gerrard Winstanley, Fire in the Bush (England)
1651 John Donne, Meditations (England); Mao Xiang, Reminis-
cences of the Plum Shadows Convent (China, composition
appx.)
1652 Seth Ward, A philosophicall essay toward an eviction of the
being and attributes of God (England)
xvi
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1653 Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler (England); Henry Har-

flete, A Banquet of Essayes (England); Huang Zongxi, Ming
Yi Dai Fang Lu [Waiting for the Dawn] (China)
1654 Richard Whitlock, Zootomia, Or, Observations on Present
Manners of the English (England)
1655 Thomas Culpepper, Morall discourses and essayes (England)
1656 Abraham Cheare, Sighs for Sion: or, Faith and Love … In
Way of Essay (England)
1657 Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, Dissertations critiques (France)
1658 Sir Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial, Or A Brief
Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns Lately Found in Norfolk
(England)
1659 John Uffley, Wit’s Fancies: or, Choice Observations and
Essayes (England)
1660 Thieleman Janszoon van Braght, Het bloedig tooneel [The
Martyrs Mirror, or the Bloody Theatre] (The Netherlands)
1661 Robert Boyle, “Proemial Essay … with considerations touch-
ing Experimental Essays in General” (England)
1662 Margaret Cavendish, Orations of Divers Sorts (England)
1663 Evliya Çelebi, Seyâhatnâme [Book of Travel] vol. 6–7 of 10
vols. 1630–1672 (Ottoman Turkey)
1664 La Rochefoucauld, Sentences et maximes de morale [Sen-
tences and Moral Maxims] (France)
1665 Denis de Sallo, ed. Journal des sçavans (France)
1666 John Willis, “An Essay of Dr. John Willis, exhibiting
his Hypothesis about the Flux and Reflux of the Sea”
(England)
1667 Eirenaeus Philalethes (George Starkey), Introitus apertus
ad occlusum regis palatium [Secrets reveal’d; or, An open
entrance to the shut-palace of the King] (Bermuda)
1668 John Dryden, Essay of Dramatick Poesy (England)
1669 John Wagstaffe, The Question of Witchcraft, debated
(England)
1670 Blaise Pascal, Pensées de M. Pascal sur la religion et sur
quelques autres sujets [Pascal’s Pensées; or, Thoughts on Reli-
gion and some Other Subjects] (France)
1671 Li Yu, Pleasant Diversions (China)
1672 William Ramesey, The Gentlemans Companion: or, A Char-
acter of True Nobility and Gentility, In the Way of an Essay
(England)
1673 Robert Boyle, Essays of Effluviums (England)
xvii
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1674 René Rapin, Reflexions sur la Poétique d’Aristotle [Reflec-

tions on Aristotle’s Poetics] (France)
1675 J. Carel de Sainte-Garde, La défense des beaux esprits de ce
temps contre un satyrique (France)
1676 Joseph Glanvill, Essays on Several Important Subjects in Phi-
losophy and Religion (England)
1677 Pierre Nicole, Essais de morale [Essays on Morality]
(France)
1678 Abraham Cowley, Collected Works (England)
1679 Charles Blount (as anon.), Anima Mundi (England)
1680 Li Yu, “On Having a Stomach” (= date of author’s death;
essay comp. unknown, China)
1681 Several Weighty Queries Concerning Heraclitus and the
Observator, in a Dialogue Betwixt Timothy the Corn-cutter
and Mr. Semple (England)
1682 William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude in Maxims and Reflec-
tions (Colonial America)
1683 Pierre Bayle, Pensées diverses sur l’Occasion de la Comète
(orig. 1682, exp. 1683) [Various Thoughts on the Occasion
of the Comet of 1680] (France)
1684 Increase Mather, An Essay for the Recording of Illustrious
Providences (Colonial America)
1685 Montaigne, Essays, trans. Charles Cotton (England)
1686 Bernard de Fontenelle, Entretiens sur la pluralité des
mondes [Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds]
(France)
1687 Isaac Newton, “Of the First Gate” (England, date appx.)
1688 Jean de la Bruyère, Les Caractères ou les Moeurs de ce siècle
[The Characters or the Manners of this Century] (France)
1689 John Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding
(England)
1690 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Carta Atenagórica y Respuesta a
Sor Filotea [Letter Worthy of Athena and Response to Sor
Filotea] (Mexico/New Spain)
1691 John Dunton, Athenian Mercury (England)
1692 Saint-Évremond, Miscellaneous Essays, trans. John Dryden
(France)
1693 Stephen Skynner, Christian Practice described by way of essay
upon the Life of our Savior (England)
1694 Matsuo Bashō, Oku no Hosomichi [Narrow Road to the Inte-
rior] (Japan)
xviii
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1695 W. C., A discourse (By way of Essay) Humbly Offer’d to the

Consideration of the Honorable House of Commons Toward
the raising Moneys by an Excise (England)
1696 Judith Drake, An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex (England)
1697 John Savage, trans. Spanish Letters, Historical, Satyrical and
Moral of the famous Don Antonion de Guevara, Bishop of
Mondonedo … written by way of essay on different subjects
(England/Spain)
1698 Jeremy Collier, A Short View of the Immorality and Profane-
ness of the English Stage (England)
1699 Ned Ward, The Weekly Comedy (England)
1700 Gombaud de Méré, Oeuvres posthumes [Posthumous Works]
(France)
1701 William Anstruther, Essays, Moral and Divine (England)
1702 Samuel Parker, Essays on Divers Weighty and Curious Sub-
jects (England)
1703 Daniel Defoe, The Review (England)
1704 John Dennis, The Grounds of Criticism in Poetry (England)
1705 James Clerk, The practice of discipline […] In way of essay.
(England); Robert Beverly, An Essay Upon the Government of
English Plantations Upon the Continent of America (Colonial
America)
1706 Fr. Manuel Bernardes, Nova floresta [New Forest] (Portu-
gal)
1707 Anthony Collins, Essay Concerning the Use of Reason
(England); Zhang Chao, Quiet Dream Shadows (= date of
author’s death, exact comp. date unknown, China)
1708 Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, A Letter
Concerning Enthusiasm (England)
1709 Richard Steele, The Tatler (England)
1710 Cotton Mather, Bonifacius, or Essays to Do Good (Colonial
America); Mary Chudleigh, Essays Upon Several Subjects
(England)
1711 Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, The Spectator (England)
1712 Jonathan Swift, ed. The Examiner (Ireland)
1713 Thomas Parnell, An Essay on the Different Stiles of Poetry
(Ireland)
1714 Anne Le Févre Dacier, Des Causes de la Corruption du Goust
[Of the Causes of the Corruption of Taste] (France)
1715 Jonathan Richardson, An Essay on the Theory of Painting
(England)
xix
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1716 Richard Blackmore, “Of Essays” (England)

1717 Ogyū Sorai, Bendō and Benmai [Distinguishing the Way and
Distinguishing Names] (Japan)
1718 Ambrose Phillips, ed. The Free-thinker (England)
1719 Richard Steele, The Plebeian (England)
1720 Count Johan Oxenstierna, Recueil de pensies du Comte J. O.
sur divers sujets [Thoughts of the Count J.O. on Various Sub-
jects] (Sweden)
1721 Marivaux, Le Spectateur Français [The French Spectator]
(France)
1722 Mary Astell, An Enquiry After Wit (England)
1723 John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, Cato’s Letters (essays)
(England, pub. 1720–23)
1724 Matsuzaki Kanran, Mado no Susami [Window Musings]
(Japan)
1725 Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro, Teatro crítico univer-
sal [Universal critical theater] (Spain)
1726 Marquise de Sévigné, Lettres de Marie Rabutin-Chantal,
(France)
1727 Matthew Byles, Proteus Echo (Colonial America)
1728 Francis Hutcheson, An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of
the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations on the Moral
Sense (Scotland)
1729 Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Chil-
dren of Poor People From being a Burthen to Their Parents
or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick
(Ireland)
1730 Carl and Edvard Carleson, Sedolärande Mercurius [Didactic
Mercury] (Sweden)
1731 Christian Falster, Amoenitates philologicae (Denmark, 1729–
1732)
1732 Muro Kyūsō, Shundai Zatsuwa [A Japanese Philosopher]
(Japan)
1733 Isaac Watts, Philosophical Essays (England)
1734 Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man (England)
1735 Nicolas Charles Joseph Trublet, Essais sur divers sujets de lit-
térature et de morale [Essays on Various Subjects, Literary
and Moral] (France)
1736 Fang Bao, Imperial Anthology of Essays on the Four Books
(China)
1737 La Père Guillame-Hyacinthe Bougeant, Amusement
xx
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

philosophique sur langage des bêtes [A Philosophical

Amusement on the Language of Beasts] (date written,
France)
1738 Benjamin Stillingfleet, An Essay on Conversation (England)
1739 Jean-Pierre de Crousaz, An Examination of Mr. Pope’s Essay
on Man (Switzerland)
1740 Johann Jakob Bodmer, Critische Abhandlung Von dem Wun-
derbaren in der Poesie [Critical Treatise on the Wonderful in
Poetry] (Switzerland)
1741 Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
(Colonial America)
1742 Jacobus Capitein, The Agony of Asar: A Thesis on Slavery by
the Former Slave […] (Ghana)
1743 William Whitehead, An Essay on Ridicule (England)
1744 Eliza Haywood, The Female Spectator (England)
1745 Denis Diderot, Essai sur le mérite et la vertue [French trans.
and annotation of the 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury’s Inquiry con-
cerning Virtue] (France)
1746 John Upton, Critical Observations on Shakespeare (England)
1747 Dazai Sundai, Dokugo [Chats with Myself] (Japan, date appx.)
1748 Montesquieu, De l’esprit des lois [The Spirit of the Laws]
(France)
1749 J. Morin, A Short Account of the Sufferings of Elias Neau,
English trans. John Jacobi (France)
1750 Samuel Johnson, The Rambler (England)
1751 Henry Fielding, An Enquiry into the Late Increase of Robbers
and Related Writings (England)
1752 John Payne, pub. The Adventurer (England)
1753 The Humourist, South Carolina Gazette (Colonial America)
1754 George Colman and Bonnell Thornton, The Connoisseur
(England)
1755 Benjamin Franklin, “Observations Concerning the Increase of
Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc.” (Colonial America)
1756 Frances Brooke, The Old Maid (England)
1757 Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi, Sefâretnâme [Book of Embas-
sies], French trans. (Ottoman Turkey)
1758 David Hume, Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary (Scot-
land)
1759 Oliver Goldsmith, ed. The Bee: Being Essays on the Most
Interesting Subjects (Ireland); Edward Young, Conjectures on
Original Composition (England)
xxi
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1760 Charlotte Lennox, The Lady’s Museum (England)

1761 Oliver Goldsmith, The mystery revealed; containing a series
of transactions and authentic testimonials, respecting the sup-
posed Cock-Lane ghost; which have hitherto been concealed
from the public (Ireland)
1762 Henry Home, Lord Kames, Elements of Criticism (Scotland)
1763 Voltaire, Traité sur la tolérance [Treatise on Tolerance]
(France); Hanna Diyab, Evliya Çelebi – The Book of Travels
(Syria)
1764 Samuel Ashwick, An enquiry (by way of essay) into the origin
of feudal tenures (England)
1765 Carl Christoffer Gjörwell, ed. Den svenska Mercurius [The
Swedish Mercury] (Sweden)
1766 Franz Mesmer, De planetarum influxu in corpus humanum
[On the Influence of the Planets on the Human Body] (Ger-
many)
1767 Nathaniel Appleton, Considerations on Slavery (Colonial
America)
1768 J. Priestly, An Essay Upon the First Principles of Government
(England)
1769 Nikolai Novikov, Truten [The drone] (Russia)
1770 John Trumbull, “The Correspondent” (Colonial America)
1771 Charles Burney, The Present State of Music in France and
Italy (England)
1772 José Cadalso, Los Eruditos a la Violeta [Wise Men Without
Learning] (Spain)
1773 Anna Laetitia Barbauld and John Aiken, Miscellaneous Pieces
in Prose (England)
1774 Alexander Gerard, An Essay on Genius (Scotland)
1775 Thomas Paine, ed. The Old Bachelor (Colonial America)
1776 Thomas Paine, Thoughts on the Present State of American
Affairs (USA); Lemuel Haynes, “Liberty Further Extended:
or, Free Thoughts on the Illegality of Slave-Keeping” (USA)
1777 Georg Forster, A Voyage Round the World in his Britannic
Majesty’s Sloop, Resolution, Commanded by Capt. James
Cook, During the Years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (Germany)
1778 Vicesimus Knox, Essays moral and literary (England)
1779 Henry Mackenzie, The Mirror (Scotland); Philip Parsons,
Dialogues of the Dead with the Living (England)
1780 Natsume Seibi, “San’en no shin” [“Three Monkeys”] (Japan,
date appx.)
xxii
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1781 Jean Jacques Rousseau, Essai sur l’origine des langues [Essay
on the Origin of Languages] (France)
1782 J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American
Farmer (France); Ignatius Sancho, Letters of the Late Ignatius
Sancho, An African (England)
1783 James Boswell, The Hypochondriack (England, 1777–1783)
1784 Charles Thevenau de Morande, La Gazette noire par un homme
qui n’est pas blanc; ou oeuvres posthumes du Gazetier cuirassé
[The Black Gazette by a man who is not white] (France)
1785 Yuan Mei, Shih-hua [Poetry Talks, written 1785–1788]
(China)
1786 Josefa Amar y Borbón, “Discurso en defensa del talento de
las mujeres y de su aptitud para el gobierno, y otros cargos en
que se emplean los hombres” [“Discourse in Defense of the
Talents of Women”] (Spain)
1787 Ottobah Cugoano, Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and
Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human
Species Humbly Submitted to the Inhabitants of Great Britain
(England)
1788 Othello, “An Essay on Negro Slavery” (USA)
1789 José Cadalso, Cartas Marruecas [Moroccan Letters] (Spain)
1790 Aleksander Radishchev, Путешествие из Петербурга в
Москву [A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow] (Rus-
sia); Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France
(Ireland)
1791 Olympe de Gouges, Déclaration des droits de la femme et du
citoyenne [Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the
Female Citizen] (France)
1792 Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women
(England)
1793 Motoori Norinaga, Jeweled Comb Basket (Japan)
1794 Zhang Dai, Tao’an mengyi [Reminiscences in Dreams of
Tao An](China, composed c. 1650); Xavier de Maistre, Voy-
age autour de ma chambre [A Journey Around My Room]
(France)
1795 Friedrich von Schiller, Über die ästhetische Erziehung des
Menschen in einer Reihe von Briefen [Letters on the Aesthetic
Education of Man] (Germany)
1796 Isaac D’Israeli, “Of Miscellanies” (England)
1797 William Godwin, The Enquirer: Reflections on Education,
Manners, and Literature (England)
xxiii
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1798 Thomas Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population

(England); Ban Kōkei, Kinsei kijinden [Unusual People of the
Modern Age] (Japan)
1799 Madame de Staël, De la littérature dans ses rapports avec les
institutions sociales [The Influence of Literature on Society]
(France)
1800 William Wordsworth, “Preface” to Lyrical Ballads (England)
1801 Elizabeth Hamilton, Letters on the Elementary Principles of
Education (Scotland)
1802 Saul Ascher, Ideen zur natürlichen Geschichte der politischen
Revolutionen [Ideas for the Natural History of Political Rev-
olutions] (Germany)
1803 Alexandre-Laurent Grimod de La Reynière, Almanach des
gourmands, first pub. [The Gourmands’ Almanac] (France)
1804 John Wilson Croker, Familiar Epistles … on the State of the
Irish Stage (Ireland); Thomas Branagan, A Preliminary Essay
on the Oppression of the Exiled Sons of Africa (USA)
1805 Nathan Drake, Essays, biographical, critical, and historical,
illustrative of the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian (England)
1806 Heinrich von Kleist, Über die allmähliche Verfertigung der
Gedanken beim Reden [On the Gradual Production of
Thoughts Whilst Speaking] (Germany)
1807 Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, Oeuvres Posthumes [Posthu-
mous Works] (France)
1808 Friedrich Schlegel, Über die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier
[On the Language and Wisdom of the Indians] (Germany)
1809 Maria Edgeworth, Essays on Professional Education (Ireland)
1810 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Theory of Colours (Germany)
1811 Shiba Kōkan, Shunparō’s Jottings (Japan)
1812 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Friend: A Series of Essays
(England)
1813 James Forten, Letters from a Man of Color (USA)
1814 Dabney Carr, George Tucker, and William Wirt, The Old
Bachelor (USA)
1815 Simón Bolívar, Carta de Jamaica [Letter from Jamaica]
(Venezuela)
1816 Petr A. Viaszemskii, На Державине [On Derzhavin] (Russia)
1817 Konstantin N. Batiushkov, Opyty [Essays in verse and prose]
(Russia)
1818 Matsudaira Sadanobu, Kagetsu sōshi [Book of Moon and
Flowers] (Japan)
xxiv
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1819 Leigh Hunt, The Indicator (England)

1820 Washington Irving, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon,
Gent. (USA)
1821 William Hazlitt, Table-Talk (England)
1822 Stendhal, De L’amour [On Love] (France)
1823 Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia (England)
1824 Jeremey Bentham, ed. The Westminster Review (England)
1825 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Goût, ou Méd-
itations de Gastronomie Transcendante; ouvrage théorique,
historique et à l’ordre du jour, dédié aux Gastronomes pari-
siens [The Physiology of Taste] (France)
1826 Mary Shelley, “On Ghosts” (England)
1827 Thomas De Quincey, “On Murder Considered as One of the
Fine Arts” (England)
1828 Elias Boudinot (Galagina Oowatie), ed. Cherokee Phoenix,
pub. 1828-1834 (Cherokee Nation/USA)
1829 David Walker, Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Pre-
amble, to the Coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particu-
lar, and Very Expressly, to Those of the US of America (USA)
1830 Henry Savery, The Hermit in Van Diemen’s Land (Australia)
1831 Thomas Carlyle, “Characteristics” (Scotland)
1832 Leopold von Ranke, Die Grossen Mächte [The Great Powers]
(Germany)
1833 Charles Lamb, The Last Essays of Elia (England)
1834 Arthur Henry Hallam, “On Sympathy” (England)
1835 Alexis de Tocqueville, De la démocratie en Amérique [Democ-
racy in America] (France); John J. Audubon, The Passenger
Pigeon (USA)
1836 Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature (USA)
1837 Esteban Echeverria, El Dogma Socialista y Otras Páginas
Políticas [Socialist Dogma and Other Political Pages] (Argen-
tina)
1838 Flora Tristan, Peregrinations of a Pariah (France/Peru)
1839 Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle (England)
1840 Percy Bysshe Shelley, “A Defence of Poetry” (England)
1841 Vissarion Belinskii, “Ideia iskysstva” [“The Idea of Art”]
(Russia)
1842 Victor Hugo, Le Rhin [The Rhine] (France)
1843 Margaret Fuller, “The Great Lawsuit. Men versus Women”
(USA); Søren Kierkegaard, Enten-Eller [Either/Or] (Den-
mark)
xxv
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1844 Andrés Bello, Principios de derecho internacional [Principles

of International Law, 2nd ed.] (Venezuela)
1845 Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Facundo: Civilization and
Barbarism (Argentina), Flora Tristán, La emancipación de la
mujer [The Emancipation of Women] (Peru)
1846 Edgar Allan Poe, “The Philosophy of Composition” (USA)
1847 William Makepeace Thackeray, The Book of Snobs (England);
V.G. Belinksy, Letter to Gogol (Russia)
1848 Catherine Crowe, The Night-Side of Nature, or Ghosts and
Ghost-Seers (England)
1849 John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture (England)
1850 Susan Fenimore Cooper, Rural Hours (USA)
1851 Arthur Schopenhauer, An Enquiry Concerning Ghost-seeing,
and what is connected therewith (Germany)
1852 Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”
(USA); Karl Marx, Der 18te Brumaire des Louis Bonaparte
[The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte] (Germany)
1853 Hippolyte Taine, Essai sur les fables de La Fontaine [Essay on
the Fables of La Fontaine] (France)
1854 Martin Delany, “The Political Destiny of the Colored Race on
the American Continent” (USA); Ali Eisami, Narrative of the
Travels of Ali Eisami, recorded by Sigismund Koelle (Kanem-
Bornu Empire)
1855 Aleksandr Herzen, From the Other Shore (Russia)
1856 George Eliot, “The Natural History of German Life”
(England)
1857 J. A. Froude, “The Dissolution of the Monasteries” (England)
1858 Alfred Russell Wallace, On the Tendency of Varieties to
Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type (England)
1859 Frances Watkins Harper, “Our Greatest Want” (USA)
1860 Charles Dickens, Night Walks (England)
1861 Michael Faraday, The Chemical History of a Candle (England)
1862 Henry David Thoreau, “Walking” (USA)
1863 Charles Baudelaire, “Le peintre de la vie moderne” [“The
Painter of Modern Life”] (France)
1864 Matthew Arnold, “The Function of Criticism at the Present
Time” (England)
1865 Tiyo Soga, contrib. Indaba (Xhosa, South Africa)
1866 Nguyễn Truʼòʼng Tộ, Ngôi vua là qúy, chúʼc quan là bóng
[Precious is the Throne; Respected is the Official] (Vietnam)
1867 Gabino Barreda, Oración Cívica [Civic Prayer] (Mexico)
xxvi
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1868 Marcus Clarke, “The Peripatetic Philosopher” (Australia)

1869 John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women (England)
1870 Fanny Fern, Delightful Men (USA)
1871 Florence Nightingale, “The Character of God” (USA)
1872 Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Poet at the Breakfast-Table
(USA); Rifa’a al-Tahtawi, “The luminous stars in the moonlit
nights of al-Aziz” (Egypt)
1873 Walter Pater, Studies in the History of the Renaissance (England)
1874 Joseph Howe, Poems and Essays (Canada)
1875 Algernon Charles Swinburne, Essays and Studies (England)
1876 Friedrich Nietzsche, Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen [Untimely
Meditations] (Germany)
1877 George Meredith, An Essay on Comedy (England)
1878 Ernest Renan, Mélanges d’histoire et de voyages [Miscellany
of Histories and Travels] (France)
1879 Maria W. Stewart, Meditations from the Pen of Mrs. Maria
W. Stewart (USA)
1880 Edmund Finn, The Garryowen Sketches (Australia)
1881 T. H. Huxley, Science and Culture, and Other Essays
(England)
1882 José Rizal, “El Amor Patrio” [“The Love of Country”] (Phil-
ippines)
1883 Alexander Crummell, “A Defense of the Negro Race” (USA);
Plotino Rhodakanaty, Cartilla Socialista [Socialist Primer]
(Mexico)
1884 Sully Prudhomme, L’Expression dans les beaux-arts [Expres-
sion in the Fine Arts] (France)
1885 Anténor Firmin, De l’égalité des races humaines [The Equal-
ity of the Human Races] (Haïti); Ken-yūsha, eds. Garakuta
Bunko (Japan)
1886 José Martí, “The Earthquake at Charleston” (Cuba)
1887 Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in
England (Germany)
1888 Francis N. Zabriskie, “The Essay as a Literary Form and
Quality” (USA)
1889 Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immedi-
ate Data of Consciousness (France)
1890 Oscar Wilde, “The Critic as Artist” (Ireland)
1891 José Martí, “Nuestra América” [“Our America”] (Cuba);
Levon Shant, “Mnak barovi irikune” [“Farewell Evening”]
(Armenia)
xxvii
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1892 Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South: By a Black

Woman of the South (USA)
1893 Tudor Jenks, “The Essay” (USA)
1894 Manuel González Prada, “Páginas Libres” [“Free Pages”]
(Peru); John Eglinton, Two Essays on the Remnant (Ireland)
1895 Victoria Earle Matthews, “The Value of Race Literature”
(USA)
1896 Higuchi Ichiyō, Akiawase [Autumn Ensemble] (Japan)
1897 Leo Tolstoy, Что такое искусство? [What is Art?] (Russia);
William Butler Yeats, “The Celtic Element in Literature” (Ire-
land)
1898 Emile Zola, “J’accuse!” [“I Accuse!”] (France)
1899 Karl Kraus, ed. Die Fackel [The Torch, 1899-1936](Ger-
many)
1900 José Enrique Rodó, Ariel (Uruguay)
1901 Mark Twain, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness” (USA)
1902 Euclides da Cunha, Os Sertoes [The Backlands] (Brazil);
Zitkála-Šá, “Why I am a Pagan” (Yankton Dakota/USA)
1903 W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (USA)
1904 Bliss Carman, The Friendship of Art (Canada)
1905 Sigmund Freud, Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie [Three
Essays on the Theory of Sexuality] (Austria)
1906 Joseph Conrad, The Mirror of the Sea (England)
1907 Henry James, The American Scene (USA)
1908 G. K. Chesterton, “On Running after One’s Hat” (England)
1909 Inazo Nitobe, Thoughts and Essays (Japan)
1910 Georg Lukács, Die Seele und die Formen [Soul and Form]
(Hungary)
1911 Benedetto Croce, Saggi sulla letteratura Italiana del Seicento
[Essays on Italian Literature of the Seventeenth Century]
(Italy); Rafael Barrett, El dolor paraguayo [The Paraguayan
Sorrow] (Paraguay); John Muir, “My First Summer in the
Sierra” (Scotland/USA)
1912 Miguel de Unamuno, Del sentimiento trágico de la vida [The
Tragic Sense of Life] (Spain)
1913 Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov, Opavshiye listya [Fallen Leaves]
(Russia)
1914 Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad, ‫[ الــكــتـــب بــيـــن ســاعــات‬Hours Spent
Among Books] (Egypt)
1915 Rubén Darío, La vida de Rubén Darío escrita por él mismo
[The Life of Rubén Darío, Written by Himself] (Nicaragua)
xxviii
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1916 Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life (India)

1917 Alfonso Reyes, Visión de Anáhuac, 1519 [Vision of Anáhuac,
1519] (Mexico)
1918 Vilhelm Ekelund, Metron (Sweden)
1919 T. S. Eliot, “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (USA)
1920 W. E. B. Du Bois, “On Being Black” (USA)
1921 Adolphe Appia, L’œuvre d’art vivant [The Work of Living
Art] (Switzerland)
1922 Eric D. Walrond, “On Being Black” (USA)
1923 Kikuchi Kan, Various Thoughts on the Great Kanto Earth-
quake (Japan)
1924 Américo Castro, Lengua, enseñanza y literatura [Language,
Teaching, and Literature] (Spain)
1925 José Ortega y Gasset, La deshumanización del Arte [The
Dehumanization of Art] (Spain); José Vasconcelos, La raza
cosmic [The Cosmic Race] (Mexico); Franz Roh, Nach-ex-
pressionismus: Magischer realismus [Post-Expressionism:
Magical Realism] (Germany)
1926 Langston Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Moun-
tain” (USA)
1927 José Regio, ed. Presença - Folha de Arte e Crítica (Portugal)
1928 José Carlos Mariátegui, 7 ensayos de interpretación para
la realidad peruana [Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian
Reality] (Peru); Hans Richter, Inflation (Germany); Zora
Neale Hurston, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” (USA)
1929 Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (England); Dziga
Vertov, Человек с кино-аппаратом [Man with a Movie Cam-
era] (Russia)
1930 Jean Vigo, Á propos de Nice (France); Mario Praz, La carne,
la morte e il diavolo nella letteratura romantica [The Roman-
tic Agony] (Italy)
1931 Jorge Basadre, Perú: Problema y posibilidad [Peru: Problem
and Possibility] (Peru); Alain (Émile Chartier), Entretiens au
bord de la mer [Conversations by the Edge of the Sea] (France)
1932 C. L. R. James, Letters from London (Trinidad); Marina
Tsvetaieva, Art in the Light of Conscience (Russia)
1933 Gilberto Freyre, Casa Grande e Senzala [The Masters and the
Slaves] (Brazil)
1934 Emma Goldman, Was My Life Worth Living? (USA); Marion
Milner, A Life of One’s Own (England); Vũ Trọng Phụng,
The Industry of Marrying Europeans (Vietnam)
xxix
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1935 Walter Benjamin, “Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner tech-

nischen Reproduzierbarkeit [The Work of Art in the Age of
its Mechanical Reproducibility]” (Germany)
1936 George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant” (England); Lu Xun,
“Death” (China)
1937 M. F. K. Fisher, Meals for Me (USA)
1938 Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas (England); Antonin Artaud,
Le Théâtre et son Double [The Theatre and Its Double]
(France)
1939 P’i Ch’Onduk, “The Essay” (Korea, date appx.)
1940 Simone Weil, “L’Iliade ou le poème de la force” [“The Iliad,
or, The Poem of Force”] (France)
1941 James Agee and Walker Evans, Let Us Now Praise Famous
Men (USA); Richard Wright and Edwin Rosskam, 12 Million
Black Voices (USA)
1942 Albert Camus, Le Mythe de Sisyphe [The Myth of Sisyphus]
(France)
1943 Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday, English trans.
(Austria)
1944 Rachel Carson, “The Bat Knew It First” (USA)
1945 Humphrey Jennings, A Diary for Timothy (England)
1946 George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” (England)
1947 Max Bense, “Über den Essay und seine Prosa” [“On the Essay
and Its Prose”] (Germany); Alioune Diop, ed., Présence Afric-
aine (Senegal/France)
1948 Jean-Paul Sartre, Qu’est-ce que la littérature? [What is Liter-
ature?] (France)
1949 Georges Franju, Le sang des betes [Blood of the Beasts]
(France); Alejo Carpentier, De lo real maravilloso americano
[On the Marvelous Real in America] (Cuba); Aldo Leopold,
A Sand County Almanac (USA)
1950 Lionel Trilling, The Liberal Imagination (USA); Octavio Paz,
El laberinto de la soledad [The Labyrinth of Solitude] (Mex-
ico); Aimé Césaire, Discours sur le colonialisme [Discourse on
Colonialism] (Martinique)
1951 Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory (Russia); New Intellectu-
als of Angola, eds., Mensagem (Angola)
1952 Anthony Sampson and Henry “Mr. Drum” Nxumalo, DRUM
Magazine (South Africa)
1953 Roberto Rossellini, Viaggo in Italia (Italy); Vahe Vahian, Rec-
onciliation of the Haralez (Armenia)
xxx
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1954 Martin Heidegger, Die Frage nach der Technik [“The Ques-
tion Concerning Technology”] (Germany)
1955 Roy de Carava and Langston Hughes, The Sweet Flypaper of
Life (USA); Alain Resnais, Nuit et brouillard [Night and Fog]
(France); James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son (USA)
1956 Hoang Van Chi, The Fate of the Last Viets (Vietnam)
1957 José Lezama Lima, La expresión americana [American
Expression] (Cuba)
1958 Theodor W. Adorno, “Der Essay als Form” [The Essay as
Form”] (Germany); Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
(France); Kawamori Yoshizō, “A Room to One’s Self” (Japan)
1959 Nirad C. Chaudhuri, A Passage to England (India)
1960 Jorge Luis Borges, Otras Inquisiciones [Other Inquisitions]
(Argentina); Elias Canetti, Masse und Macht [Crowds and
Power] (Germany)
1961 Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (Martinique)
1962 Natalia Ginzburg, Le piccole virtú [The Little Virtues] (Italy);
Shōno Junzō, “Michi” [“The Road”] (Japan)
1963 Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem (Germany/USA);
Germán Arciniegas, “Nuestra América es un ensayo” [“Our
America is an Essay”] (Colombia); Forough Farrokhzad,
‫[ است سیاه خانه‬The House is Black] (Iran)
1964 Ralph Ellison, “The World and the Jug” (USA); James Bald-
win and Richard Avedon, Nothing Personal (USA); Léopold
Sédar Senghor, Liberté 1 (Senegal)
1965 Glauber Rocha, “Eztétyka da fome” [“The Aesthetics of Hun-
ger”] (Italy/Brazil); Obiajunwa Wali, “The Individual and the
Novel in Africa” (Nigeria)
1966 Susan Sontag, “Against Interpretation” (USA)
1967 Malcolm X, “Telephone Conversation with Malcolm X”
(USA/France, recorded 1965)
1968 Yukio Mishima, Taiyō to Tetsu [Sun and Steel] (Japan);
Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire (USA)
1969 Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, Hacia un tercer cine
[Toward a Third Cinema] (Argentina)
1970 Albert Murray, The Omni-Americans (USA)
1971 Roberto Fernández Retamar, “Calibán” (Cuba); John
McPhee, Encounters with the Archdruid (USA)
1972 John Berger, Ways of Seeing (England); Stanley Cavell, The
Senses of Walden (USA)
1973 Osaragi Jirō, “A Bed for My Books” (Japan, date appx.)
xxxi
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1974 Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (USA); Alexander

Kluge, In Gefahr und grosster Not bringt der Mittelweg den
Tod [In Danger and Greatest Need, the Middle Way Brings
Death] (Germany); Jacques Derrida, Glas (France)
1975 Eduardo Galeano, Las venas abiertas de América Latina
[Open Veins of Latin America] (Uruguay); Patricio Guzmán.
La batalla de Chile: La insurrección de la burguesía [The Bat-
tle of Chile] (Chile)
1976 Wole Soyinka, Myth, Literature, and the African World
(Nigeria); Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America (USA)
1977 Chinua Achebe, “An Image of Africa” (Nigeria); Roberto
Schwarz, Ao vencedor as batatas [To the Victor, the Potatoes]
(Brazil)
1978 Harun Farocki, Between Two Wars (Germany)
1979 Joan Didion, “The White Album” (USA)
1980 Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida (France); Jamil Dehlavi, The
Blood of Hussain (Pakistan)
1981 V. S. Naipaul, Among the Believers (Trinidad and Tobago)
1982 Richard Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory (USA); Rafael
Argullol, El héroe y el único [The Hero and the Only] (Spain)
1983 Chris Marker, Sans Soleil (France)
1984 Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider (USA); Ángel Rama, La ciudad
letrada [The Lettered City] (Uruguay)
1985 Ayi Kwei Armah, “The Lazy School of Literary Criticism”
(Ghana); Susan Howe, My Emily Dickinson (USA)
1986 John Akomfrah, Handsworth Songs (Ghana/England); Barry
Lopez, Arctic Dreams (USA); Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Decolonis-
ing the Mind (Kenya); Malek Alloula, The Colonial Harem
(Algeria)
1987 Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mes-
tiza (USA); Doris Lessing, Prisons We Choose to Live Inside
(Zimbabwe/UK)
1988 Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place (Antigua); Italo Calvino, Six
Memos for the Next Millennium (Italy); W. G. Sebald, After
Nature (Germany)
1989 Shelby Steele, “Being Black and Feeling Blue: Black Hesitation
on the Brink” (USA)
1990 Édouard Glissant, Poétique de la relation [Poetics of Rela-
tion] (Martinique); Sony Lab’ou Tansi “An Open Letter To
Africans” c/o The Punic One-Party State, an essay (Belgian
Congo)
xxxii
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

1991 David Wojnarowicz, Close to the Knives (USA); William

Least Heat-Moon, PrairyErth (USA/Osage)
1992 Philip Lopate, “In Search of the Centaur: The Essay-Film”
(USA)
1993 Leslie Marmon Silko, Sacred Water (Laguna Pueblo/USA)
1994 Edward Said, Representations of the Intellectual (Palestine);
Antonio Cornejo Polar, Escribir en el aire [Writing in the Air]
(Peru); Carmen Hermosillo, “Pandora’s Vox” (USA)
1995 Anne Carson, “The Glass Essay” (Canada); Marlon Riggs,
Black Is, Black Ain’t (USA)
1996 Sergio Pitol, El arte de la fuga [The Art of Flight] (Mexico)
1997 Patrick Keiller, Robinson in Space (England); Geoff Dyer,
Out of Sheer Rage (England)
1998 Pankaj Mishra, “Edmund Wilson in Benares” (India); Arund-
hati Roy, “The End of Imagination” (India)
1999 Nadine Gordimer, Living in Hope and History: Notes from
our Century (South Africa); Subcomandante Insurgente Mar-
cos, “La Cuarta Guerra Mundial” [“The Fourth World War”]
(Mexico)
2000 James Alan McPherson, A Region Not Home: Reflections on
Exile (USA); Bae Suah, “There is a Man Inside Me” (South
Korea)
2001 Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Mysterious Object at Noon
(Thailand); Roberto Calasso, Literature and the Gods (Italy)
2002 June Jordan, Some of Us Did Not Die (USA); Nick Denton,
ed. Gawker (UK/USA)
2003 Shashi Deshpande, Writing from the Margins and Other
Essays (India)
2004 Sakai Junko, The Pillow Book REMIX (Japan)
2005 Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost (USA); Milan
Kundera, Le Rideau (Czech Republic)
2006 Sergio González Rodriguez, De sangre y sol [Of Blood and
Sun] (Mexico); F. Gonzalez Crussi, On Seeing (Mexico/USA)
2007 Antoni Martí Monterde, Poética del café [The Poetics of the
Café] (Spain); Anna Holmes, ed., Jezebel (USA)
2008 Lynda Barry, What It Is (USA); Amit Chaudhuri, Clearing a
Space (India); Paul B. Preciado, Testo Yonqui (Spain)
2009 Zadie Smith, Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays
(England); Choire Sicha and Alex Balk, eds. The Awl (USA)
2010 J. M. Coetzee and Arabella Kurtz, “Nevertheless, My Sympa-
thies are with the Karamazovs” (South Africa/England);
xxxiii
 Chronology: 440 Years of Essays

Sayak Valencia, Capitalismo Gore (Mexico); John D’Agata,

About a Mountain (USA)
2011 Damián Tabarovsky, Literatura de izquierda (Argentina);
Malama Katulwende, “The Clouds” (Zambia); Bill Simmons,
ed. Grantland (USA)
2012 Jenny Boully, of the mismatched teacups, of the single-serving
spoon: a book of failures (USA/Thailand)
2013 Hisham Matar, “The Return: A Father’s Disappearance, A
Journey Home” (USA/Libya)
2014 Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations” (USA)
2015 Robert Macfarlane, Landmarks (England); Maggie Nelson,
The Argonauts (USA)
2016 Mark Greif, Against Everything (USA); Viet Thanh Nguyen,
Nothing Ever Dies (Vietnam/USA), Amitav Ghosh, The Great
Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (India)
2017 Teju Cole, Blind Spot (USA); Leanne Betasamoksake Simp-
son, This Accident of Being Lost (Nishnaabeg/Canada);
Marina Dimópulos, Carrusel Benjamin (Argentina)
2018 Kazim Ali, Silver Road (USA); Zoë Wicomb, Race, Nation,
Translation (South Africa); Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, Un
Mundo Ch’ixi es posible [A Ch’ixi World Is Possible]
(Bolivia); Alessandro Baricco, The Game (Italy)
2019 Kathleen Stewart and Lauren Berlant, The Hundreds (USA);
Verónica Gago, “La potencia feminista o el deseo de cambi-
arlo todo” [“La Potencia Feminista: Or, The Desire to Change
Everything”] (Argentina)
2020 Pau Luque, Las cosas como son y otras fantasías [Things as
They Are and Other Fantasies] (Spain); Kiese Makeba Lay-
mon, “Mississippi: A Poem, in Days” (USA)

Note
1 C. Claire de Obaldia, The Essayistic Spirit: Literature, Modern Criticism, and the
Essay (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1995), passim.

xxxiv
 KAR A W IT TM AN AND EVAN KINDLEY

Introduction

One day in late-sixteenth-century France, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

retired from political life, shut himself in his library, and tried something
new. In 1580, he published the first version of the Essais, a word that can be
translated variously as “attempts,” “trials,” “experiments” and, of course,
“essays.” Since then, the world has been reckoning with the form that Mon-
taigne invented (or reinvented, drawing on the long history of dialogues,
histories, and self-accountings that preceded him). This book is one such
reckoning.
What, after all, is an essay? What can an essay do or think or reveal or
know that other literary forms cannot? What makes a piece of writing essay-
istic? Answers to questions about the essay frequently come in the form of
negations, statements of what the essay isn’t: It’s neither poetry nor fiction;
it may proceed by experimentation but it isn’t a scientific treatise and offers
no proof; it deals with concepts and ideas but opposes what Georg Lukács
calls the “icy perfection of philosophy”; it may tell the story of a self, but it
isn’t autobiography or memoir; it may contain facts, but it’s certainly not
always to be trusted.1 The essay invites readers down its many and winding
paths but isn’t so interested in providing a map; it begins a dialogue but
doesn’t manage the stage. As Thomas Karshan and Kathyrn Murphy admit
in the midst of their own efforts to define the form, the “pursuit of com-
mon features” might, in the end, be futile: “the essay has made resistance
to definition part of its particular work.”2 We might say that resistance and
negation themselves are in fact essential to the form: The essay wonders and
it doubts, it rejects conclusions, prefers the “not” or the “not yet.”
The project of trying to define the essay runs into other complications.
For one, essayistic writing is much older than the Essais itself. “The word is
late,” writes Francis Bacon in 1612, “but the thing is ancient.”3 Lately it has
come to seem like the essay is as old as writing itself. John D’Agata’s three
mammoth anthologies, published between 2003 and 2016, have proposed
an ambitious and controversial genealogy that traces the essay form as far
1
 K ar a Wit tman AND Evan Kindley

back as ancient Sumer and encompasses works more commonly labeled phi-
losophy, fiction, and poetry.4 Montaigne himself draws on a range of Greek
and Latin sources: Heraclitus’s aphorisms, Seneca’s letters, Ovid’s verse,
Cicero’s “eloquence” (which he found constraining),5 and Plutarch’s histo-
ries. His magpie gathering of these classical writers helps us see what was
essayistic about their work avant la lettre. But in our search for the essayis-
tic throughout global literary history, we can also look to texts Montaigne
would not have known at all: Azwinaki Tshipala’s ribald self-interviews
conducted in southern Africa in 315 ce; the wry miscellanies composed
by al-Jahiz in eighth-century Basra; Sei Shōnagon’s diaristic observations
of courtly life in Imperial Japan; Shen Kuo’s extensive Mengxi Bitan, writ-
ten around the end of the eleventh century in the Northern Song Dynasty
and later translated as The Dream Pool Essays; the Seyâhatnâme (“books
of travels”) assembled by Ottoman Turkish explorers; or Bernardino de
Sahagún’s sprawling, collaborative Florentine Codex, or The General His-
tory of the Things of New Spain, written in the newly conquered Aztec
Empire while Montaigne was still a teenager.
These diverse manifestations point us to the key complexity of the essay: It
is at once a literary genre and a mode of writing, and quite happy to be both
without privileging either. Essayism, or essaying – what Montaigne noticed
he was doing (trying, experimenting, weighing, exploring) and then decided
to name – is a loose and exploratory disposition toward the world, as well
as toward representation and writing. Novels can be essayistic, and so can
journalistic reportage; we can see aspects of the essay in forms as diverse
as prose poems, manifestos, scientific taxonomies, and Internet “listicles”
(which might remind us of Sei Shōnagon’s lists of “things that quicken the
heart”). Claire de Obaldia speaks of “the essayistic spirit”: Where “genre
remains a question” for the essay, an uneasy reconciliation with the cat-
egories and fixed points it essentially rejects, the essayistic spirit is game
for almost anything.6 Writing of this same spirit as it manifests itself in the
African American essay tradition, Cheryl Wall – borrowing a phrase from
Zora Neale Hurston – calls it “the will to adorn”: an aesthetic that values
digressiveness, playfulness, embellishment, “and a display of consciousness
that language … is important for its own sake.”7
Montaigne’s coinage, then, more than bringing something wholly new
into being, gives us a kind of generic lingua franca, allowing us to consider
and talk about writing we now call “essayistic” throughout history and
across a wide variety of cultures. Before Montaigne, the word “essay” had
never appeared in print to denominate a literary genre. (Some scholars argue
that even Montaigne didn’t intend it to do so; for him, Essais may have been
merely a title.) After Montaigne, the word allows us to compare cultural
2
 Introduction

traditions and see both common threads and crucial divergences. This was
true even as early as five years after Montaigne’s death in 1592: Francis
Bacon’s 1597 Essayes most likely take their name from Montaigne’s cre-
ations, but they have a distinct ethos and a very different way of approaching
both knowledge and authority. They are essays and manifest a recognizably
essayistic spirit, but Bacon’s essays are not doing exactly what Montaigne’s
were doing. In other countries, languages, and literary cultures around the
world, we can see different traditions of the essay and essayistic writing:
some self-consciously following Montaigne, others sui generis but sharing
the characteristics we generally see in literary works named “essays,” and
still others adapting Montaignean nomenclature post hoc.
For example, David Pollard, in the introduction to his anthology The
Chinese Essay, writes: “When English essays were first translated into Chi-
nese on any scale in the 1920s and 30s, there was no agreement on what
to call them. The most favored options were xiaopinwen (minor works, or
short pieces) and suibi (occasional jottings) … Presently the most commonly
used term is sanwen (prose).” But in classical Chinese literature, sanwen
refers to anything nonfictional not written in verse, an expansive category
that includes “official memorials and rescripts, prefaces, letters, obituar-
ies, prose poems, biographies, excerpts from historical and philosophical
works, and more besides.”8 Translating a broad selection of Chinese nonfic-
tion into English, Pollard’s anthology brings all of this miscellaneous matter
together as “essays.” In Japanese, meanwhile, the term that corresponds
most closely to “essay” is zuihitsu: Steven Carter, in his introduction to The
Columbia Anthology of Japanese Essays, calls this “a supergenre in which
one will often find a mix of subgenres, everything from reportage and trav-
elogue to poetry, literary criticism, biography, confession, ­journalism – and
so on, almost ad infinitum.”9 This genre of writing, according to the scholar
Donald Keene, “has no close European counterpart,” but Carter tells us
“it is generally called ‘essay,’ or ‘miscellany.’”10 Our own c­ hronology thus
traces both essayism and the essay in world literary history after Montaigne,
but without fetishizing “the essay” as a term: Some works we include were
called essays at their inception, and some weren’t; others were translated
to English, French, or Spanish as essays, essais, or ensayos (to name just
three cognates); some have been described in critical responses or h ­ istorical
descriptions as essays, while still others simply share the wandering,
­exploratory, self-­conscious essayistic spirit.
Does the essay, for that matter, even need to be made of words? In the
USA in the 1930s and 40s, photographers such as Margaret Bourke White,
W. Eugene Smith, Dorothea Lange, and Arthur Rothstein began publish-
ing photographic essays, sometimes commissioned by the Farm Security
3
 K ar a Wit tman AND Evan Kindley

Administration. In 1941, James Agee and Walker Evans collaborated on

one of the most famous of these government projects, resulting in the at
once delicately lyrical and aggressively political Let Us Now Praise Famous
Men.11 The same year, Richard Wright published 12 Million Black Voices,
a trenchant Marxist analysis of African American history juxtaposed with
Depression-era photographs by Edwin Rosskam.12 Later in the century,
works such as Susan Sontag’s On Photography, Roland Barthes’s Camera
Lucida, and John Berger’s Ways of Seeing explored the critical possibili-
ties of juxtaposing image and text.13 In 1947 Salvador Dalí illustrated the
Essais, forging a link between Montaigne’s early modern divagations and
twentieth-century surrealism, and anticipating later graphic essays such
as Philippe Squarzoni’s Climate Changed, Lynda Barry’s What It Is, and
Eleanor Davis’s Why Art?14 Historians of cinema have argued that proto-
types of the essay film emerge as early as D. W. Griffith’s 1909 A Corner in
Wheat and Dziga Vertov’s 1929 Man With a Movie Camera. Hans Richter’s
1940 “The Essay Film: A New Type of Documentary Film” suggests that
experimental films such as these be called “essays” because they “deal with
difficult subjects and themes [in] generally comprehensible form,” but also
allow the filmmaker to produce “complex thought – thought that, at times,
is not grounded in reality but can be contradictory, irrational, and fantas-
tic.”15 The addition of the image, still or moving, further complicates the
already shifting and unstable form of the essay, raising questions of “how
images and words find and lose their conscience,” as W. J. T. Mitchell puts
it in Picture Theory, as well as “their aesthetic and ethical identity.”16
For twenty-first-century undergraduates, who are one of the intended pri-
mary audiences of this book, “the essay” might seem drearily familiar. Most
students in the US education system are taught to craft “five-­paragraph
essays,” colorfully known as “hamburger essays,” with a top-bun introduc-
tion, three body paragraphs (meat, cheese, some veggies), and a bottom-bun
conclusion. Scholars have traced these forms both to rhetorical exercises in
classical Greece and to the student “themes” assigned in nineteenth-century
grammar schools, assignments designed to teach strict style, grammatical
correctness, and organized thinking.17 As Nicole Wallack argues in Craft-
ing Presence: The American Essay and the Future of Writing Studies, the
problem of defining the essay has played no small part in its being both
everywhere and nowhere in schools. The essay, she suggests, “has often
been a synecdoche for teachers’ and other stakeholders’ beliefs about the
varied aims of writing in high school and college, and arguably even for
the broader cultural functions of education.”18 Students are supposed to
learn to write by writing essays, but only essays of a particular kind. The
benefit of the five-paragraph essay, especially given the rapidly expanding
4
 Introduction

population of students attending high school and college in the USA in the
late 1940s and 1950s, is that it is formulaic and portable: easy to identify, to
teach, and to grade. Its boxy outline bears, however, almost no resemblance
to Montaigne’s tentacular structures, and, in its emphasis on product and
assessment, it is in many ways antithetical to his exploratory, wandering
spirit.
It’s a commonplace for literary critics and theorists (who often, but not
always, identify as essayists themselves) to refer to the essay as a neglected
or undervalued form, subordinate to the novel and the poem in the literary
hierarchy. The essay has also (much like the novel and poetry, come to
think of it) periodically been declared to be “dead.” If it has been difficult to
define the essay, it appears to have been easy to identify its body: Between
1890 and 1940 in the USA, the essay was declared over and over to be “dis-
appearing,” “lost,” barely surviving, a “Little Old Lady” on the verge of
passing away.19 In a 1902 piece on “The Old-Fashioned Essay” for Harper’s
Magazine, William Dean Howells laments that “the moment came when the
essay began to confuse itself with the article, and to assume an obligation of
constancy to premises and conclusions, with the effect of so depraving the
general taste that the article is now desired more and more, and the essay
less and less.”20 Virginia Woolf feels compelled to remind us, in her 1925
“The Modern Essay,” that “the essay is alive; there is no reason to despair,”
perhaps partly in order to walk back her 1905 assertion of its “decay.”21
Ned Stuckey-French has suggested that these hand-wringing obituaries are
part of the birth pangs of a more modern version of the essay, born from
the decline of a “genteel” essay tradition and the growing desire for a reflec-
tive, meditative form in a chaotic and increasingly commercialized literary
marketplace.22
Yet the essay has never really been out of fashion, and in the twenty-first
century it is arguably experiencing something of a renaissance. Graduate
and undergraduate courses on the form are proliferating in both literature
and creative writing departments. Collections of essays by writers such as
Maggie Nelson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Esmé Weijun Wang, Emilie Pine, Tres-
sie McMillan Cottom, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, and Durga Chew-
Bose are capturing the kind of critical and journalistic attention usually
reserved for literary fiction. In 2013 Christy Wampole declared in the New
York Times that “the essayification of everything” was underway;23 more
recently, the Irish critic Brian Dillon has made the case for “essayism” as a
coherent literary aesthetic.24 Noting the increasingly essayistic character of
contemporary fiction, Jonathan Franzen wrote in The Guardian in 2016
that “we seem to be living in an essayistic golden age,” while also fretting,
somewhat counterintuitively, about the essay’s imminent “extinction”
5
 K ar a Wit tman AND Evan Kindley

(along with that of democracy and the human species).25 Recent works by
Ben Lerner, Rachel Cusk, Elif Batuman, Teju Cole, and Karl Ove Knaus-
gaard have troubled the line between novel and essay, just as others by
Natanya Ann Pulley, Claudia Rankine, Anne Boyer, and Kazim Ali have
blurred those between essay and lyric poem. And then there’s the Internet.
Twitter and Facebook have revived many of the dialogic and polemical
energies that facilitated the rise of the periodical essay in the eighteenth
century. Platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo have proven to be fer-
tile soil for video essays, some didactic or instructional, others specula-
tive and meditative; examples of note include John Bresland’s Mangoes, a
patchwork meditation on parenting, consumerism, and masculinity, Elisa
Giardina Papa’s Technologies of Care, an exploration of the precarity
of affective labor and the outsourcing of empathy to Internet platforms,
Cydnii Wilde Harris’s meditations on race and representation in film and
television history, and the pointed culture-war commentaries of Natalie
Wynn’s ContraPoints.
The tradition of trying to define the essay – and it’s a very long one – has
been dominated for centuries by essayists themselves. Essays on the essay
are as old as Montaigne and form a kind of subcanon in their own right.
This book participates in that meta-essayistic tradition, but also makes a
significant departure from it by bringing the history of the essay into con-
tact with other currents in contemporary literary scholarship. As with any
other literary or artistic form, remarks by practitioners can be illuminating,
but they can also be arcane or partial, focusing on legitimating a particular
practice of essay-writing. We believe the essay is a form that deserves seri-
ous theoretical and critical consideration from multiple angles. The myce-
lial reach of the essay means that all of us who write nonfiction prose for
an academic audience, a public audience, or even just for ourselves partic-
ipate in some way in a tradition of essay writing, but here we’ve invited
our writers to consider the essay in contexts – historical and theoretical –
that extend beyond their own individual practice as writers. Our contrib-
utors consider essays and the essay form in the contexts of literary theory,
political and economic history, postcolonialism, ecocriticism, new media
studies, queer theory, and more, and collectively they speak to the range
and fecundity of the essay form. We can’t, of course, be comprehensive;
even the relatively conventional decision to begin with Montaigne, as we
do, elides the centuries-long prehistory sketched above. And, while there is
some tilt toward the Anglophone tradition in the chapters that follow, we
affirm that the essay is a global form. In “440 Years of Essays,” the detailed
chronology included in this book, we’ve tried to indicate this expansive
geographic and linguistic scope.
6
 Introduction

The goal of this book is to broaden our ideas of what essays are and have
been, how they work, and what work they have done throughout world
history (and not just literary history). The chapters in our opening section,
“Forms of the Essay,” attempt to answer some fundamental questions about
the shapes the essay takes: What is an essay, and what is it good for? How
do we know one when we see one? “Essays are so many and the barriers
to entering the category are low, but there are still moments when I find
myself saying, now this is an essay,” Jeff Dolven writes in “Remembering
the Essay,” his reflection on two of the form’s sixteenth-century European
pioneers, Michel de Montaigne and Francis Bacon. Dolven notes Montaigne
and Bacon’s mutual concern with memory and situates their work in the
context of the humanist educational practices of the early modern period
(such as the ars memoria), while also broaching the larger question of the
essay’s “mnemonic affordances,” suggesting that we conceive of the essay
as a “rebel against memory.”
From its inception, the essay has been both an intimately personal
genre (“I am myself the matter of my book,” as Montaigne famously
put it) and a critical one: The Essais are built around the texts of others,
offering interpretive commentaries on other people’s writing on virtually
every page. “Originally his book was a collection of the fruit of his read-
ing, with running commentary,” Erich Auerbach writes of Montaigne’s
Essais in his magisterial philological study Mimesis: The Representation
of Reality in Western Literature. “This pattern was soon broken; com-
mentary predominated over text, subject matter or point of departure
was not only things read but also things lived – now his own experiences,
now what he heard from others or what took place around him.”26 In a
pair of early chapters, Merve Emre and Frances Ferguson each explore
from different angles this basic bifurcation of the essay form. In “The
Personal Essay,” Emre argues that the personal has come to dominate
over the critical, developing a distinction between the “familiar essay,”
as practiced by writers such as Charles Lamb and Virginia Woolf, and the
more overtly autobiographical “personal essay” as it has evolved since
the early twentieth century. Emre sees the personal essay today as a man-
datory vehicle of self-revelation and confession perpetuated and incen-
tivized both by a sensationalist Internet media market and by academic
institutions, which have required “personal statements” from prospective
students since around 1920. “The fiction of private individuality pro-
jected by the personal essay allows bourgeois subjects to accrue various
cultural, economic, and social rewards,” Emre writes, “dispersed by insti-
tutions that are, at once, constituted by the fiction of the private individ-
ual and responsible for reproducing it.”
7
 K ar a Wit tman AND Evan Kindley

Ferguson, too, is interested in the interrelation of the individual self and

the academic institution. Her chapter, “The Critical Essay,” commences
with Joseph Addison’s “The Pleasures of the Imagination” (first published
in his periodical The Spectator in 1712; we might note in passing how
many critical magazines take the name of a generic individual: the Spec-
tator, the Tatler, the Idler) and traces a short history of Anglo-American
literary criticism that runs through the university, encompassing academic
critics from I. A. Richards and Cleanth Brooks right up to latter-day prac-
titioners such as D. A. Miller and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. “In addressing
aesthetic experience and the operation of the senses generally,” Ferguson
claims, Addison inaugurates a tradition of critical writing about literature
founded on a new understanding of sociality: He “assumes that his readers
will immediately join him in acts of recognition, that they will see their
own experience as matching – and only loosely matching – his.” Thus the
distance between writer and reader, which the personal essay arguably
imposes, is collapsed: The critical essay, à la Addison, “aimed to capture
what we might call ‘your thoughts as written by someone else’ or ‘my expe-
rience as you already know it.’”
If the essay form is woven from the intricately intermingled strands of self
and world, subjective experience and objective reality, what can be said of
the relationship between essay and oikos, the essay form and our ecological
home? In “The Nature Essay,” Daegan Miller considers the place of the
essay in the broader tradition of nature writing, taking us from the heyday
of American transcendentalism to the diverse work being done on climate
today in our era of the Anthropocene. “It is not surprising that those who
would hew their own original relation to the world have consistently chosen
to write essays,” Miller declares, and his own essay deftly weaves together
powerful examples of the form by Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller,
Annie Dillard, Barry Lopez, Camille T. Dungy, and others.
Finally, in “The Essay in Theory,” Kara Wittman engages various phil-
osophical attempts to define and delimit the essay, and to use the form to
do a kind of philosophy that became increasingly urgent in the shadow of
twentieth-­century atrocities. Wittman brings together many of the leading
lights of Romantic, Marxist, and poststructuralist theory, each of whom
saw the essay as essential to their practice. “Essays don’t offer data; they
offer situated, limited standpoints from which we can perceive something
fleeting and meaningful about life itself,” Wittman writes, summarizing
Georg Lukács’s antipositivist conception of the essay in his 1910 Soul and
Form. For Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, and other German intel-
lectuals associated with the Frankfurt School of Social Research, the essay
becomes an indispensable instrument of philosophical critique: of science,
8
 Introduction

of enlightenment, of ideology, of everything that exists. For these thinkers,

the essay form offers a way to oppose the totalizing impulses that led to the
rise of authoritarianism in the twentieth century. “[T]he essay,” according
to Wittman, “lets the particulars of existence remain visible and individu-
ated, fugitive from the system builders”; its formal commitment to particu-
larity resists the violence of closed systems.
Our volume’s second section, “The Work of the Essay,” ranges across cen-
turies and continents in order to illuminate some of the many practical and
political uses to which essays have been put. In “Experimental Science and
the Essay,” Julianne Werlin describes the role of the Baconian essay in facil-
itating the rise of both experimental science and managed state capitalism in
early modern England. Having begun as a humanistic genre for the explo-
ration of self, “essays came to be a medium for the investigation of nature,”
Werlin writes; and these experimental findings in turn made possible inno-
vations in agriculture, economics, and industry, bringing about nothing less
than what Samuel Hartlib called “the reformation of the whole world.”
If the essay was instrumental in the rise of modern capitalism, it also
proved useful in the articulation of a radical resistance to it, as Anahid
Nersessian shows in “Essay, Enlightenment, and Revolution.” Nersessian
describes the essay’s centrality to the European revolutions of the late eigh-
teenth and early nineteenth centuries, tracing an intricate genealogy from
the genteel periodical essays of Richard Steele and Joseph Addison to the
provocative pamphleteering of Jean-Paul Marat and Karl Marx. While
one significant line of essayists agitated for the political transformation of
the modern world, another, as David Russell describes in “Ethics and the
Essay,” was more concerned with providing equipment for living with its
everyday anxieties. Focusing on nineteenth-century English “polite essay-
ists” such as William Hazlitt and Charles Lamb, Russell analyzes the essay’s
contribution to what he calls “an ethics of unknowing” by way of providing
a tentative, experimental space in which “established values and habits of
response are put into suspension.”
Although a preponderance of the theory and history of the essay focuses
on its European traditions, the form has been crucial to political and intel-
lectual developments in the Americas and throughout the postcolonial
world. As Jesse McCarthy puts it in “The Essay, Abolition, and Racial
Blackness”: “The violence of colonial settlement, the particular nature of
slavery under nascent capitalism, and the rise of new multiracial societies
provided a very different context for the essay in the New World than Mon-
taigne’s native Dordogne.” McCarthy’s narrative of the essay’s importance
to the discourses of abolitionism, civil rights, and racial blackness stretches
from Bartolomé de las Casas’s Short Account of the Destruction of the
9
 K ar a Wit tman AND Evan Kindley

Indies (published in 1552, decades before Montaigne’s Essais) to the

twentieth-­century interventions of James Baldwin and his contemporary
heirs such as Ta-Nehisi Coates and Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah.
Complementing McCarthy’s account of the essay’s role in the colonial
and postcolonial Americas, Ignacio Sánchez Prado’s “The Utopian Essay”
considers essays that imagine, in form and content, utopia and the “utopian
desires of modernity.” Although he glances briefly at a long tradition of
utopian essay-writing beginning with Thomas More’s 1516 Utopia, Sán-
chez Prado is particularly interested in the early twentieth-century “birth
of Latin America as a philosophical problem,” where the tradition of the
Mexican essay established an “intellectual project committed to overcoming
Eurocentrism and asserting Latin America as a site of thinking.” Focus-
ing on the work of twentieth-century diplomat, critic, and essayist Alfonso
Reyes, Sánchez Prado argues for “the utopian essay as part of a political and
formal tradition that has its origins in the otherization of the New World
as a tabula rasa for European ideations,” but that was “ultimately claimed
in Latin America and other latitudes as an instrument to think liberation.”
In “The Essay and Empire,” Saikat Majumdar also considers the rela-
tionship between the essay form and the logics of control embedded in colo-
nialism. He surveys a range of essayists from across the decolonized world
– Nirad C. Chaudhuri, C. L. R. James, Jamaica Kincaid, and Arundhati Roy
among them – in order to demonstrate the essay’s role in “dismantling …
the notion of mastery” on which colonial domination had been founded.
Drawing on Julietta Singh’s argument that colonial mastery works in quiet
complicity with a range of other forms of mastery (such as mastering an
instrument or a language), Majumdar shows us how different postcolonial
essayists mobilize the freeing “epistemological failures” inherent in the essay
form against this creeping domination. In its “stark refusal of epistemolog-
ical as well as political mastery,” he writes, the essay defies the arrogance
and predation of empire.
The section on “The Work of the Essay” concludes with Grace Lav-
ery’s “Unqueering the Essay,” an examination of the complex relationship
between the essay form and normative conceptions of the self, sexuality,
identification, and desire. Lavery considers a particular tradition of essays
in which “queer literary critics writ[e] about famous queer literary critics,”
with emphasis on Terry Castle’s memoir of the great twentieth-century
essayist Susan Sontag. In those essays, writers inhabit the “melancholy” and
“eminently queer switch between objective and subjective methods of analy-
sis,” while their analysts – the writers-turned-readers – have to confront the
“alarmingly monodimensional” nature of their own desires and cathexes: the
desire for the writer to “come out” in an essay, a form by its very nature not
10
 Introduction

interested in the full, disclosive out. Writing to and in the spirit of another
significant contemporary essayist and queer theorist, the late Lauren Berlant,
Lavery meditates on the relationship between queer desire, public mourning,
and the essay form. Uninterested in making claims for the “essential” nature
of the essay, Lavery tests the notion that the form might necessarily (and par-
adoxically) impose these inadequacies of relation, these evasive and fraught
desires between subject and object, writer and reader, wanted and wanting.
Our third and final section, “Technologies of the Essay,” considers how
the essay has interacted and crossbred with other modes of communication.
This section thus points toward the future of the essay form and reflects on
its capacity to evolve and adapt to social and technological change. Jason
Childs’s “The Essay and the Novel” considers the interrelationship of these
two infinitely malleable literary forms, arguing that both novel and essay
“paradoxically include innovation: Their new instances are torn between
the need to observe the formal guide-rails of their antecedents and the urge
to do away with these.” Thus it should perhaps not be surprising that so
many novelists – Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, Milan Kundera, and
Zadie Smith, to name only a few – have also been expert essayists, or that
the novel itself, in the hands of authors such as Robert Musil, Hermann
Broch, and W. G. Sebald, becomes more essay than narrative.
In “Lyric, Essay,” Claire Grossman, Juliana Spahr, and Stephanie Young
discuss the various hybrids of essay and lyric poetry that have sprung up in
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Invoking Theodor Adorno, they
dub the lyric essay “the subgenre that writers turn to so as to escape the
curse of being official,” and situate its evolution vis-à-vis the rise of the
creative writing program, the memoir boom of the 1990s, the influence of
poststructuralist theory, and a global diaspora of writing against the “offi-
cial” in the USA, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.
The wager of Kevin Adonis Browne’s “The Photograph as Essay” is that
in order to understand the photographic essay we need to read one. Or
rather, we need to look at one. We must, he suggests, spend a different
kind of time, and cultivate a different kind of attention. “Time can appear
to run differently here,” he writes. “The codes will seem foreign. Think
of yourself as a visitor or an immigrant and try not to colonize what you
have come upon. Try not to control it. Learn the language, its praise songs
and its dirges, its long, breathy hymns.” There are theoretical texts about
photographic essays – W. J. T. Mitchell’s Picture Theory is an excellent
example – but Browne’s essay, echoing in some ways Roland Barthes’s med-
itative, idiosyncratic Camera Lucida or the lyrical “Epilogue” to Teju Cole’s
Blind Spot, suggests that the best way to understand what a photograph as
essay can do, and be, is to sit with it, to inhabit it.
11
 K ar a Wit tman AND Evan Kindley

Nora M. Alter’s “The Essay Film” likewise explores the relationship

between the written essay and its visual – and also aural – incarnations.
“The essay film,” she writes, “has developed into a new form of cinema
that … progressively transforms the nature of traditional philosophical dis-
course.” That discourse, she shows us, “when filmed, transforms the nature
of cinema.” Her essay moves from the earliest examples of the essay film in
the USA, Europe, and the Soviet Union to twenty-first-century video essays
and large-scale video installations in museums and galleries around the
world. Alter considers the intersecting aspects of and influences on the essay
film: the relationship between the visual and the aural; the influence of the
written essay on cinema and cinema on the way essayists explore language;
and the way both the essay and the essay film “problematize all binary cate-
gories of representation.” This ability to problematize categories and modes
of representation, she argues, gives the essay film a political dimension and
explains the proliferation of essay films “in times of crisis” globally. Because
they move beyond traditional forms of objective and linear reportage and
representation, essay films can “reveal a problem and bring to attention
events that might otherwise be buried for decades.”
But the twentieth-century technology that has most radically rejuvenated
the essay form, and the one that is most likely to shape its trajectory in the
coming decades, is the Internet. In “The Essay Online,” Jane Hu locates an
essayistic impulse in the bulletin boards and hobbyist forums of the early,
precommercial web. The texts generated and disseminated in such spaces
were dialogic, in many ways recalling the periodical essays of the eighteenth
century: According to Hu, “the online essay evolved from conversations:
writing that prompted and compelled other writing.” As the Internet became
coextensive with mass media over the course of the late twentieth- and early
twenty-first century, market forces began to come into play, resulting in
“clickbait” personal essays often written by young women and published
by websites such as the Huffington Post, Gawker, and Jezebel. While the
online personal essay has been a much-maligned genre, Hu insists on its
literary and progressive potential; she concludes by considering “personal
essays that express interiority not for expression’s sake, but in an attempt
to mobilize social action,” such as the rape survivor Emily Doe’s harrowing
direct address to her attacker, published by BuzzFeed in June 2016.
We have one final note. We began contacting the authors about con-
tributing to this collection in the fall of 2019; by the end of March 2020
more than 100 countries around the world were on full or partial lockdown
trying to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus Covid-19. For some of
our contributors, as we write, the lockdown has not yet been lifted. Though
we live just 30 miles from each other in Southern California, we coedited
12
 Introduction

this book entirely over Zoom, email, text, and the phone. Aspects of this
situation would have been familiar to Michel de Montaigne: Plague ravaged
Europe, and his Bordelaisian home, for most of the years he was composing
the Essais. In “Of Physiognomy,” he writes frankly about being “assailed”
by the disease “without doors and within,” about how much it frightened
him. We want to take this space to thank our authors, who wrote through
grief and loss and terrible uncertainty, and to honor and mourn the remark-
able Cheryl Wall; she is cited frequently in this collection and was working
on her own contribution to it when she passed in April 2020. We want to
recognize the spirit of collaboration, intellectual kinship, and togetherness
across great distances represented by this group of writers. Although he
makes much of the solitude in which he composed his Essais, Montaigne
writes most movingly when he writes of his friends. “Company reassures,”
he reminds us in the last essay he added to his book, and we have been
deeply grateful, in this time of fear and isolation, for these companions.

Notes
1 Georg Lukács, Soul and Form eds. John T. Sanders and Katie Terazakis, trans.
Anna Bostock (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), 17.
2 Thomas Karshan and Kathyrn Murphy, On Essays: Montaigne to the Present
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 5.
3 Francis Bacon, “To the Most High and Excellent Prince, Henry, Prince of Wales,
Duke of Cornwall, and Earl of Chester,” as reproduced in Basil Montagu,
“­Preface,” in Francis Bacon, Alexander Spiers, and Basil Montagu, Bacon’s
Essays and Wisdom of the Ancients (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Company,
1884), xvi.
4 John D’Agata, The Lost Origins of the Essay (Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf
Press, 2009); John D’Agata, The Making of the American Essay (Minneapolis,
MN: Graywolf Press, 2016); John D’Agata, The Next American Essay (Minne-
apolis, MN: Graywolf Press, 2003).
5 Michel de Montaigne, “A consideration upon Cicero,” The Complete Essays
of Montaigne, trans. Donald Frame (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press,
1958).
6 Claire de Obaldia, The Essayistic Spirit: Literature, Modern Criticism, and the
Essay (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 4.
7 Cheryl Wall, On Freedom and the Will to Adorn: The Art of the African Amer-
ican Essay (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018), 6.
8 David Pollard, ed., The Chinese Essay (London: C. Hurst and Co, 2000), xi.
9 Steven D. Carter, ed., The Columbia Anthology of Japanese Essays: Zuihitsu
from the Tenth to the Twenty-First Century (New York: Columbia University
Press, 2014), 2.
10 Donald Keene, Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from the Earliest Times to
the Late Sixteenth Century (New York: Holt, 1993); quoted in Carter, Colum-
bia Anthology of Japanese Essays, 1.
13
 K ar a Wittma n A ND Eva n Kindley

11 James Agee and Walker Evans, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (New York:
Houghton Mifflin, 2001).
12 Richard Wright and Edwin Rosskam, 12 Million Black Voices (Battleboro, VT:
Echo Point Books and Media, 2019).
13 Susan Sontag, On Photography (New York: Picador, 2001); Roland Barthes,
Camera Lucida, trans. Richard Howard (New York: Hill and Wang, 2010);
John Berger, Ways of Seeing (London: Penguin Books, 1972).
14 Philippe Squarzoni, Climate Changed: A Personal Journey Through the Science,
trans. Ivanka Hahnenberger (New York: ABRAMS, 2014); Lynda Barry, What
It Is (Montreal, Canada: Drawn and Quarterly, 2021); Eleanor Davis, Why Art?
(Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics, 2018).
15 Nora M. Alter and Tim Corrigan, eds., Essays on the Essay Film (New York:
Columbia University Press, 2017), 9.
16 W. J. T. Mitchell, Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), 281.
17 See Anne Berggren, “Do Thesis Statements Short-Circuit Originality in Student’s
Writing?” in Originality, Imitation, and Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the
Digital Age (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008).
18 Nicole B. Wallack, Crafting Presence: The American Essay and the Future of
Writing Studies (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2017), 10.
19 See Ned Stuckey-French, “Why Does the Essay Keep Dying, and What Do Little
Lord Fauntleroy and the ‘Lavender-Scented Little Old Lady’ Have to Do With
It?,” The CEA Critic 61.2–3 (Winter and Spring/Summer, 1999).
20 William Dean Howells, “The Old-Fashioned Essay,” Harper’s Magazine (Octo-
ber 1902): 802–803.
21 See Virginia Woolf, “The Modern Essay,” in The Common Reader: First Series,
ed. Andrew McNeillie (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1953), 216–
217. Also Woolf, “The Decay of Essay-Writing.” The Essays of Virginia Woolf:
1904–1912, ed. Andrew McNeillie (London: Hogarth, 1986), 24–27.
22 Ned Stuckey-French, The American Essay in the American Century (Columbia:
University of Missouri Press, 2011).
23 Christy Wampole, “The Essayification of Everything,” New York Times (May
26, 2013), https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/the-­essayification-
of-everything.
24 Brian Dillon, Essayism: On Form, Feeling and Nonfiction (London: Fitzcaraldo
Editions, 2017).
25 Jonathan Franzen, “Is It Too Late to Save the World?,” The Guardian (November
4, 2017), www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/04/jonathan-franzen-too-late-
to-save-world-donald-trump-environment
26 Erich Auerbach, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature,
trans. Willard R. Trask (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003), 295.

14
 Part I

Forms of the Essay

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cette époque, s'il eût seulement jeté les yeux sur les murs de Paris,
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pas chez M. Laffitte, comme il le dit: tous nos actes étaient datés de
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au nom de Charles X; il reconnaît également que, quatre ou cinq
jours plus tard, nous avons reçu M. de Sussy, qui voulait déposer
entre nos mains le décret royal rapportant les ordonnances; il
reconnaît, enfin, que nous avons reçu une députation républicaine
présidée par M. Hubert. Il nous eût trouvés comme tout le monde, si
toutefois il nous eût cherchés réellement, et il eût été entendu, s'il
avait eu des choses importantes à nous faire connaître; autrement,
j'avoue qu'il eût été fort peu écouté.
"De notre conférence avec MM. de Sémonville, d'Argout et de
Vitrolles, il ne rapporte que le mot de M. de Schonen, si connu de
tout le monde: Il est trop tard! Mais ce mot ne terminait pas la
discussion; au contraire, il la faisait naître, car il s'agissait
précisément de savoir s'il était ou n'était pas trop tard. Charles X
disposait encore de forces considérables: aux troupes qui
l'entouraient allaient se joindre quarante pièces d'artillerie qui
venaient de sortir de Vincennes, un régiment suisse qui arrivait
d'Orléans, et le camp de Saint-Omer, qui était appelé. Loin de penser
à prendre l'offensive, nous craignions une attaque. La nuit du 29 au
30 juillet fut pleine d'alarmes, et nous n'avions avec nous que deux
ou trois régiments de ligne dont nous ne pouvions pas nous servir,
parce qu'ils avaient stipulé, en acquiesçant à la cause populaire,
qu'on ne les exposerait pas à combattre contre leurs frères d'armes.
Aussi nous parut-il indispensable d'ordonner la création de vingt
régiments de garde mobile. On se trompe, et l'on juge d'après les
événements, quand on croit que Charles X était à bout de ressources
dès le 29 ou le 30 juillet: la faiblesse de son caractère et l'incapacité
de ses conseils ont été pour beaucoup dans le changement de sa
fortune.
"Suivant M. Dumas, nous aurions accueilli M. de Sussy avec une
bienveillance marquée; M. Dumas se trompe: M. de Sussy fut sans
doute écouté avec politesse, mais non avec bienveillance. Ce qui le
prouve, c'est que le dépôt qu'il voulait faire entre nos mains fut
nettement refusé. La réception du décret et sa publication, que
demandait M. de Sussy, n'entraient pas, d'ailleurs, dans nos
attributions. La réunion des députés s'était réservé la haute question
politique, c'est-à-dire le droit d'organiser le gouvernement définitif.
Nous n'avions à nous occuper de cette question que dans le sein de
la réunion même, et comme en faisant partie.
"En nous quittant, M. de Sussy se transporta à la Chambre, et fit
remettre le décret à M. Laffitte, qui présidait et qui refusa également
de le recevoir: il n'en prévint pas l'Assemblée. M. Dumas ignore,
sans doute, qu'il existait alors dans le peuple et dans la Chambre
deux tendances opposées. La Chambre se repentait de la révolution,
qu'elle avait faite sans le vouloir ni le savoir. Elle était disposée à
traiter avec Charles X. M. de Mortemart, nommé premier ministre à
la place de M. de Polignac, avait fait demander à la réunion des
députés, devenue fort nombreuse depuis la victoire, à être admis à
lui communiquer les intentions royales. La réunion s'était empressée
de lui répondre qu'elle le recevrait le même jour; elle avait décidé en
même temps qu'elle s'assemblerait au palais législatif pour
l'entendre, et s'était même occupée de la question d'étiquette. Les
questeurs devaient d'abord le recevoir dans un salon; des huissiers
seraient ensuite allés au-devant de lui, et l'eussent introduit dans la
salle. Pour apprécier la déférence que les députés avaient mise à se
transporter au palais législatif, il faut se rappeler que, jusqu'alors, ils
ne s'étaient réunis que chez l'un d'eux; ils ne devaient s'assembler
officiellement, au lieu ordinaire de leurs séances, et avec le caractère
de Chambre, que le 3 août, jour fixé par l'ordonnance de
convocation, c'est-à-dire deux ou trois jours plus tard.
"La séance eut lieu, mais M. de Mortemart ne parut pas. De là le
décret qui, le jour même, après une assez longue attente, conféra la
lieutenance générale au due d'Orléans. Je n'ai jamais douté, quant à
moi, que, si M. de Mortemart se fût présenté, les événements
n'eussent pris une direction différente.
"Le peuple n'était pas comme la Chambre: il ne voulait plus de
Bourbons. Le duc d'Orléans lui-même, après sa proclamation comme
roi, ne put se faire accepter qu'en s'abritant sous la popularité du
général la Fayette, et en parcourant les rues de Paris pendant
plusieurs jours, donnant des poignées de main aux uns, faisant des
discours aux autres, et trinquant avec le premier venu: je dis les
faits, je ne crée pas.
"Au moment où, suivant M. Dumas, nous étions en conférence avec
M. de Sussy, arriva la députation Hubert, qui, voyant la porte
fermée, l'ébranla à coups de crosse de fusil. On ouvrit. Alors, parut
M. Hubert, suivi de quelques amis, et portant une proclamation au
bout d'une baïonnette. Les membres de la commission furent saisis
d'épouvante et s'éparpillèrent un instant au milieu de la salle.
"Je ne sais si M. Dumas a voulu faire du pittoresque; mais je sais
qu'il n'y a pas un mot de vrai dans son récit.
"Voici ce qui arriva:
"La députation avait demandé à être introduite, et le fut
immédiatement. Elle n'était point armée, et se composait de quinze
ou vingt personnes; M. Hubert était à sa tête. Je crois me rappeler
qu'en effet M. de Sussy était encore présent; je crois même me
rappeler que nous voulûmes saisir l'occasion de le rendre témoin
d'une scène populaire; il ne pouvait qu'y puiser des enseignements
pour la cour de Charles X. M. Hubert, qui n'avait ni proclamation
écrite, ni baïonnette, parla au nom de la députation, et d'abondance.
Il insista notamment sur deux points: sur la nécessité de consulter la
nation, et sur celle de ne pas constituer le pouvoir avant d'avoir
stipulé et arrêté des garanties pour les libertés publiques.
"Ce discours eut un effet que M. Hubert n'avait certainement pas
prévu. Il mit en saillie une divergence d'opinion qui existait dans la
commission, mais qui était jusque-là restée inaperçue.
"J'avoue franchement que, sur plusieurs points, j'étais de l'avis de
l'orateur. On lui fit une réponse qui venait du cabinet du général la
Fayette, qui avait été préparée en arrière de moi, qui manquait de
franchise, et qui excita plusieurs fois, de ma part, des gestes ou des
mots de surprise et de désapprobation. La députation s'en aperçut.
Ce léger incident a même été signalé dans plusieurs brochures de
l'époque.
"Tout se passa, du reste, poliment, convenablement, et je crois
même pouvoir certifier que, lorsque la députation se retira, M. Audry
de Puyraveau ne glissa pas en secret un projet de proclamation dans
la main de son chef; autrement, il se serait donné un démenti à lui-
même, car il avait approuvé la réponse.
"Je dois ajouter ici que les négociations entreprises par M. de Sussy,
et dont le bruit s'était répandu au dehors, avaient tellement alarmé
la population, que, pour prévenir un soulèvement populaire, nous
fûmes obligés de publier la proclamation qui prononçait la
déchéance de Charles X.
"Je ne puis me taire sur une scène où M. Dumas me fait figurer
personnellement avec M. Charras. Il aurait été question d'une lettre
à écrire aux officiers d'un régiment où je ne connaissais personne; je
me serais plaint du général Lobau, et M. Charras aurait menacé de le
faire fusiller; sur quoi, j'aurais bondi de surprise; M. Charras m'aurait
pris par la main, et, me conduisant à l'une des fenêtres de l'hôtel de
ville, il m'aurait montré la place en me disant: 'Il y a là cent
cinquante hommes qui n'obéissent qu'à moi, et qui fusilleraient le
Père éternel, s'il descendait sur la terre, et si je leur disais de le
fusiller!'
"M. Charras était, à cette époque, un jeune homme fort peu connu
et n'ayant aucune influence. Je ne me rappelle ni l'avoir vu ni lui
avoir parlé à l'hôtel de ville. Dans tous les cas, s'il m'eût tenu le
langage qu'on lui prête, ou je l'aurais fait arrêter, ou je me serais
éloigné sans daigner lui répondre.
"M. Dumas est certainement venu à l'hôtel de ville, puisqu'il l'affirme.
Voici ce qu'il a dû y voir:
"Sur la place, sur les quais et dans les rues adjacentes était une
population compacte et serrée, attendant les événements, et
toujours prête à nous appuyer de son concours. Sur la place, au
milieu de la foule, se maintenait un passage de quatre ou cinq pieds
de large. C'était une espèce de rue ayant des hommes pour
murailles.
"Quand nous avions à donner un ordre exigeant l'appui d'une force
quelconque, nous en confions, en général, l'exécution à un élève de
l'École polytechnique. L'élève descendait le perron de l'hôtel de ville.
Avant d'être parvenu aux derniers degrés, il s'adressait à la foule,
devenue attentive, et prononçait simplement ces mots: Deux cents
hommes de bonne volonté! Puis il achevait de descendre, et
s'engageait seul dans le passage. A l'instant même, on voyait se
détacher des murailles, et marcher derrière lui, les uns avec des
fusils, les autres seulement avec des sabres, un homme, deux
hommes, vingt hommes, puis cent, quatre cents, cinq cents. Il y en
avait toujours le double de ce qui avait été demandé.
"D'un mot, d'un geste, je ne dirai pas en une heure, mais en une
minute, nous eussions disposé de dix, de quinze, de vingt mille
hommes.
"Je demande ce que nous pouvions avoir à craindre de M. Hubert,
de M. Charras et de ses prétendus cent cinquante prétoriens? Qu'il
me soit permis d'ajouter que des hommes qui étaient venus siéger à
l'hôtel de ville dès le 29 juillet avaient prouvé par là même qu'ils
n'étaient pas d'un caractère facile à effrayer. Pendant les jours de
combat, le gouvernement avait décerné des mandats d'arrêt contre
sept députés au nombre desquels je me trouvais, ainsi que plusieurs
de mes collègues de la commission. Charles X avait même annoncé,
le lendemain, que nous étions déjà fusillés. Quand nous n'avions pas
reculé devant le pouvoir, aurions-nous reculé devant des jeunes
gens, fort honorables sans doute, mais qui, il faut bien le dire,
étaient sans puissance?
"Jamais autorité ne fut obéie aussi ponctuellement que la nôtre.
Jamais peuple ne se montra aussi docile, aussi courageux, aussi ami
de l'ordre que celui de Paris en 1830. Nous n'avions pas seulement
pour nous les masses inférieures, nous avions la garde nationale, la
population tout entière. Lorsqu'il fut question de l'expédition de
Rambouillet, l'autorité militaire nous demanda dix mille hommes. Sa
dépêche nous était arrivée à neuf heures du matin; à neuf heures et
demie, nos ordres étaient expédiés aux municipalités que nous
avions créées; à onze heures, les dix mille hommes étaient
rassemblés aux Champs-Élysées, et se mettaient en mouvement,
sous le commandement du général Pajol. Il avait suffi d'un coup de
tambour pour les réunir. Leur nombre s'élevait à vingt mille et même
à trente mille avant qu'ils fussent arrivés à Cognières, près
Rambouillet. Au milieu d'eux, à la vérité, régnait un immense
désordre. Charles X était entouré d'une garde fidèle, d'une
nombreuse artillerie, et la cause nationale aurait pu éprouver une
sanglante catastrophe. Elle n'en eût pas été ébranlée: Paris, dans
vingt-quatre heures, aurait fourni cent mille hommes qui eussent été
promptement organisés et disciplinés. La guerre civile fut prévenue
par un mot du maréchal Maison, mot qui n'était pas exact quand il
fut prononcé, mais qui le serait devenu le lendemain, et qui a trouvé
son excuse dans ses heureux effets.
"Que si l'on me demande ce que nous avons fait de cette confiance
sans mesure qui nous était accordée, je répondrai que ce n'est pas à
moi qu'il faut adresser la question. La puissance souveraine, alors,
était dans la Chambre, dont le public ignorait les dispositions
intérieures. La Chambre obéissait tant aux événements qu'à M.
Laffitte, et M. Laffitte, en outre, tant par lui que par le général la
Fayette, disposait des masses populaires. Le crédit de la commission
ne venait qu'en troisième ordre; mais, comme il grandissait, tous les
jours, il inspira des inquiétudes, et on chercha le moyen de s'en
débarrasser.
"J'ai déjà signalé la dissidence qui existait entre l'opinion publique et
la législature; il s'en déclara bientôt une autre dans le sein de la
législature même.
"Parmi les députés, les uns voulaient constituer la royauté d'abord,
sauf à s'occuper plus tard des garanties; les autres demandaient
qu'on s'occupât des garanties et des changements à faire dans
l'organisation du pays avant de constituer la royauté. Commencerait-
on par faire une constitution, ou commencerait-on parfaire un roi?
Telle était donc la question.
"Les partisans de la royauté faisaient valoir les inconvénients d'un
gouvernement provisoire, et la crainte de l'anarchie; ceux de la
constitution répondaient que, dans l'état du pays, et ils en donnaient
Paris pour preuve, l'anarchie n'était pas à redouter; ils ajoutaient
qu'il fallait mettre les institutions publiques en accord avec la
situation nouvelle, et ne pas s'exposer à une continuation de lutte
avec la royauté, ce qui, disaient-ils, aurait pour résultat inévitable
une seconde révolution et l'anarchie même qu'on voulait prévenir.
Les premiers répliquaient qu'il n'y avait point de situation nouvelle;
qu'il pouvait être question, au plus, de changer la personne du
prince; les seconds, que le peuple avait fait plus qu'une révolution de
palais, et qu'il importait à la royauté même, dans l'intérêt de sa
stabilité, d'être reconstituée sur d'autres bases, et de recevoir la
sanction du pays.
"Le parti Laffitte et la Fayette passa tout entier du côté de ceux qui
voulaient une royauté immédiate, et leur assura une majorité
considérable. Il agit même sur la commission municipale. M. de
Schonen, un de ses membres, immédiatement après l'acceptation
par le duc d'Orléans de la lieutenance générale, avait demandé que
la commission se démît de ses pouvoirs. J'avais représenté que
l'autorité nouvelle était déjà engagée dans de mauvaises voies, ce
que nous savions tous, et qu'en retardant notre démission de
quelques jours, nous parviendrions peut-être à l'éclairer. Sur mes
représentations, la discussion avait été ajournée; mais, le lendemain,
sur les instances secrètes du général la Fayette, et en mon absence,
elle avait été reprise et la démission envoyée. On n'y trouvera pas
ma signature. Au surplus, c'est moi qui avais tort. On avait voulu
simplement débarrasser le nouveau pouvoir d'une coexistence qui
pouvait le gêner; mais il nous convenait à tous de lui laisser la
responsabilité de ses actes. Quant à la question de primauté entre
l'établissement d'une constitution ou celui d'un roi, on sait qu'elle fut
résolue par une révision de la Charte en vingt-quatre heures.
"La commission n'a existé comme gouvernement que pendant cinq
jours, et, si l'on veut se reporter aux circonstances et à ses actes, on
verra qu'elle les a bien remplis. Elle fut priée par le lieutenant
général d'organiser la ville de Paris, ce qu'elle fit, et ce qui continua
quinze jours de plus son existence devenue fort étroite. Son œuvre
finie, elle se retira. Si elle ne s'est pas occupée plus activement de la
grande question politique, c'est, comme je l'ai déjà dit, parce que
chacun de ses membres appartenait à la réunion des députés, et y
portait son opinion et ses votes.
"Dans ces divers événements, il avait été tenu fort peu de compte
du parti républicain, et il y en avait une raison fort simple, c'est que
ce parti n'existait pas alors, ni à Paris ni en France. Il se réduisait, à
Paris, à cent cinquante ou deux cents adeptes, jeunes gens, il est
vrai, pleins d'activité et de courage, mais qui n'avaient d'importance
que par leur chef, le général la Fayette. Or, le général la Fayette
n'était pas de leur parti; aussi en furent-ils abandonnés dès le
premier pas.
"Je ne veux point dire par là que le général la Fayette n'était pas
entré, sous la Restauration, dans la conspiration de Béfort et dans
plusieurs autres; j'ai assez connu les affaires secrètes de ce temps
pour ne pas l'ignorer; mais ces conspirations n'étaient pas
républicaines. Je ne veux pas même dire que, dans les deux
dernières années de sa vie, il ne se soit mêlé sérieusement à
quelques combinaisons contre Louis-Philippe, et je reconnais qu'à
cette époque le parti républicain avait déjà plus d'action; mais le
général la Fayette recherchait surtout le mouvement et la popularité.
M. Laffitte disait de lui, avec beaucoup d'esprit, sous la Restauration:
'La Fayette est une statue qui cherche son piédestal; que ce
piédestal soit un fauteuil de dictateur ou un échafaud, peu lui
importe.'
"Si M. Dumas veut savoir les motifs qui ont déterminé le général la
Fayette à abandonner le parti républicain, il peut les demander à M.
Odilon Barrot, qui a dû les connaître.
"M. Odilon Barrot s'était présenté à nous à l'hôtel de ville, non pas le
28, mais le 31 juillet; il était porteur d'une lettre de M. Laffitte, qui
nous priait de le nommer notre secrétaire. Nous le connaissions
tous, et il jouissait dès lors d'une réputation trop honorable pour que
la recommandation ne fût pas accueillie. M. Mérilhou et M. Baude
nous étaient déjà attachés en la même qualité; M. Barrot leur fut
adjoint. Mais la mission qu'il avait reçue de M. Laffitte n'était pas de
rester auprès de nous: elle était de s'établir auprès du général la
Fayette, avec qui il avait déjà, par sa famille, des rapports d'intimité.
C'est lui qui a servi d'intermédiaire entre M. Laffitte et le général la
Fayette, ce qui lui a donné une assez grande action sur les
événements. On craignait que le général la Fayette ne conservât
quelque rancune contre le duc d'Orléans, à raison de certains actes
de la première révolution, et qu'il ne se laissât entraîner par les
jeunes gens qui l'entouraient à une tentative républicaine.
"Je voudrais finir, et je vous prie, cependant, de me permettre
d'ajouter encore un mot.
"On a dit, dans votre journal, et M. A. Dumas a répété, je crois, que
M. Casimir Périer nous avait refusé deux millions que nous lui
demandions pour une affaire importante. J'ai attaqué assez vive-men
M. Casimir Périer pour avoir le droit de lui rendre justice. Il n'a
jamais eu à nous refuser, et nous n'avons jamais eu à lui demander
n' ni deux millions ni aucune autre somme. Les caisses de l'État
étaient à notre disposition, et elles étaient pleines. Nous avions
notamment sous nos mains celle de l'hôtel de ville, qui contenait de
dix à douze millions. C'est sur cette dernière caisse que nous avons
fait nos dépenses. Elles ont été arrêtées à cinquante-trois mille
francs, par la cour des comptes, qui a proposé de laisser cette
somme à notre charge.
"La révolution de juillet n'a été l'œuvre ni de quelques hommes ni
d'un parti; elle est sortie du soulèvement de la France entière,
indignée d'un parjure et encore blessée des humiliations de 1815.
Comment cette unanimité si noble et si pure a-t-elle été remplacée,
peu de temps après, par des haines de parti et par des scènes de
troubles et de désordre? Le gouvernement n'a-t-il pas contribué lui-
même à cette transformation? Quel a été son but? Quels ont été ses
hommes? Quelles ont été les fautes des partis, les erreurs et les
faiblesses des hommes? Voilà ce que l'histoire doit rechercher et
enseigner. Les mémoires privés peuvent certainement lui être utiles,
mais sous une condition, c'est qu'ils apporteront la vérité.
"Dans le mouvement de réaction qui a succédé si promptement aux
trois journées, les membres de la commission, rendus entièrement à
leurs fonctions législatives, ont presque tous suivi des routes
différentes. On peut les juger diversement: la vie d'un homme public
appartient au public. Mais ils peuvent aussi se rendre intérieurement
ce témoignage que, pendant leur courte existence comme
gouvernement, et tandis qu'ils étaient à l'hôtel de ville, ils ont rendu
quelques services au pays. Nul ne saurait se représenter l'état de
trouble et de confusion où était Paris le 29 juillet. Les rues, les
boulevards étaient couverts de barricades dont celles de 1848 n'ont
point donné l'idée. La circulation des piétons en était gênée, celle
des voitures impossible, et il ne fallait pas penser à les détruire, car
aux portes de la ville était une armée, et cette armée pouvait
reprendre l'offensive. Toute la population était sur pied. Parmi les
combattants, il y avait un grand nombre de blessés qui réclamaient
des secours. Il y avait aussi un grand nombre d'hommes qui, sous
les armes depuis plus de soixante heures, manquaient de
subsistances. Nous leur envoyâmes de l'argent, et ils le refusèrent.
'Nous nous sommes battus pour la patrie,' disaient-ils: 'elle nous doit
du pain, non de l'argent.' Or, il n'y avait point de magasins, point de
rations préparées. À chaque instant arrivaient des soldats, des
compagnies entières qui abandonnaient la cause de Charles X:
c'était un tourbillonnement d'hommes et d'événements dont il serait
impossible de peindre la rapidité.
"Au milieu de ce mouvement immense, il fut pourvu à tous les
besoins; tous les droits ont été respectés. Les communications entre
Paris et les provinces, par la poste et le télégraphe, se rouvrirent dès
le jour même du 29. Le lendemain, de nouvelles municipalités furent
créées et installées. L'on ne fut troublé ni dans ses propriétés ni
même dans ses opinions. Le peuple s'était livré vis-à-vis de deux ou
trois personnes à des démonstrations alarmantes: sur un seul mot
de nous, il s'arrêta.
"Nous avons pu protéger même des adversaires politiques; ceux
d'entre eux qui voulurent quitter la capitale reçurent des passe-
ports. Paris reprit promptement sa physionomie ordinaire, et, au
bout de peu de jours, il aurait pu se demander s'il y avait eu une
révolution.
"Ces résultats ont été dus à la sagesse du peuple, je m'empresse de
le reconnaître: nous n'eussions rien pu sans lui, puisqu'il était notre
unique instrument. Qu'il me soit permis néanmoins d'en réclamer
une modeste part pour la direction qui lui fut donnée, et pour la
rapidité des mesures prises et de leur exécution. En nous rendant à
l'hôtel de ville, nous avions compromis notre fortune, et exposé
notre vie. Qu'on ne nous en sache aucun gré, je ne m'en plains pas;
mais, du moins, quand on parle de nous, qu'on en parle
sérieusement; c'est un égard qui me paraît nous être dû, de même
qu'à tous les hommes publics; j'en appelle à M. Dumas lui-même.
"Je m'arrête et vous prie, monsieur, de vouloir bien publier ma lettre;
j'ai dû attendre, pour l'écrire, que M. Dumas eût fini ou à peu près
avec l'hôtel de ville. Vous la trouverez peut-être trop longue; je n'ai
fait, cependant, que toucher, pour ainsi dire du bout de la plume, les
hommes et les choses de 1830. Je n'ai pas osé m'étendre
davantage; j'aurais craint de trop importuner vos lecteurs.
"Veuillez agréer l'expression de ma considération très-distinguée.
"MAUGUIN, Ancien
député
"SAUMUR, 8 mars 1853"

AU RÉDACTEUR
"MONSIEUR LE RÉDACTEUR,—Votre journal de ce jour (15 mars)
renferme une lettre de M. Mauguin infirmant quelques-uns des faits
que je rapporte dans mes Mémoires.
"J'ai pris, en écrivant ces Mémoires, une résolution: c'est de ne
répondre que par des preuves officielles, des documents
authentiques ou des témoignages irrécusables aux dénégations qui
pourraient m'être opposées.
"Ainsi ai-je fait, il y a quelques jours, à propos de M. le chevalier de
Liniers; ainsi ferai-je aujourd'hui à propos de M. Mauguin.

PREMIÈRE INFIRMATION
"Au moment où, suivant M. Dumas, nous étions en conférence avec
M. de Sussy, arriva la députation Hubert, qui, voyant la porte
fermée, l'ébranla à coups de crosse de fusil. On ouvrit. Alors, parut
M. Hubert, suivi de quelques amis, et portant une proclamation au
bout d'une baïonnette. Les membres de la commission furent saisis
d'épouvante, et s'éparpillèrent un instant au milieu de la salle.
"Je ne sais si M. Dumas a voulu faire du pittoresque, mais je sais
qu'il n'y a pas un mot de vrai dans son récit."
Voici ma réponse:
"M. Hubert fut choisi pour porter cette adresse à l'hôtel de ville; il
partit en costume de garde national, et accompagné de plusieurs
membres de l'assemblée, parmi lesquels étaient Trélat, Teste,
Charles Hingray, Bastide, Poubelle, Guinard, tous hommes pleins
d'énergie, de désintéressement et d'ardeur. La députation fendit la
foule immense répandue sur la place de Grève. HUBERT PORTAIT
L'ADRESSE AU BOUT D'UNE BAÏONNETTE....

"Les uns s'égarent dans l'hôtel de ville, les autres trouvent la porte
du cabinet de la commission municipale fermée. Ils demandent à
entrer, on ne leur répond pas. INDIGNÉS, ILS ÉBRANLENT LA PORTE À
COUPS DE CROSSE. On leur ouvre, enfin, et ils aperçoivent le comte de
Sussy causant amicalement avec les membres de la commission
municipale."
(Louis BLANC, Histoire de dix ans.)

SECONDE INFIRMATION
"M. Hubert, qui n'avait ni proclamation ni baïonnette, parla au nom
de la députation, et d'abondance; il insista notamment sur deux
points....
"Tout se passa, du reste, poliment, convenablement, et je crois
même pouvoir certifier que, lorsque la députation se retira, M. Audry
de Puyraveau ne glissa point en secret un projet de proclamation
dans la main de son chef; autrement, il se serait donné un démenti à
lui-même, car il avait approuvé la réponse.
"Je ne sais quelle était la réponse approuvée par M. Audry de
Puyraveau. Voici la mienne:
"Seul (dans la commission municipale), M. Audry de Puyraveau avait
une attitude passionnée! Remportez vos ordonnances! s'écria-t-il
alors (s'adressant à M. de Sussy); nous ne connaissons plus Charles
X! ON ENTENDAIT EN MÊME TEMPS LA VOIX RETENTISSANTE D'HUBERT LISANT
POUR LA SECONDE FOIS L'ADRESSE DE LA RÉUNION LOINTIER....

"La députation républicaine se disposait à sortir lorsque,

s'approchant d'Hubert, et TIRANT UN PAPIER DE SA POCHE, M. Audry de
Puyraveau lui dit avec vivacité: TENEZ, VOICI UNE PROCLAMATION QUE LA
COMMISSION MUNICIPALE AVAIT D'ABORD APPROUVÉE, ET QU'ELLE NE VEUT
PLUS MAINTENANT PUBLIER. IL FAUT LA RÉPANDRE."

(LOUIS BLANC, Histoire de dix ans, imprimée et publiée à quinze

éditions, du vivant de M. Audry de Puyraveau et de M. Mauguin.)

TROISIÈME INFIRMATION
"Je ne puis me taire sur une scène où M. Dumas me fait figurer
personnellement avec M. Charras. Il aurait été question d'une lettre
à écrire aux officiers d'un régiment où je ne connaissais personne. Je
me serais plaint du général Lobau, et M. Charras aurait menacé de le
faire fusiller; sur quoi, j'aurais bondi de surprise; M. Charras m'aurait
pris par la main, et, me conduisant à l'une des fenêtres de l'hôtel de
ville, il m'aurait montré la place en me disant: Il y a là cent
cinquante hommes qui n'obéissent qu'à moi, et qui fusilleraient le
Père éternel, s'il descendait sur la terre, et si je leur disais de le
fusiller."

RECTIFICATION

"D'abord, j'ai mis dans la bouche de Charras, non ces paroles

tronquées par M. Mauguin, mais celles-ci, qui, à mon avis, sont bien
différentes:
"Et, si le Père éternel trahissait la cause de la liberté, ce qu'il est
incapable de faire, et que je leur disse de fusiller le Père éternel, ils
le fusilleraient!"
"Reprenons la troisième infirmation où je viens de l'interrompre.
"M. Charras," poursuit M. Mauguin, "était, à cette époque, un jeune
homme fort peu connu et n'ayant aucune influence. Je ne me
rappelle ni l'avoir vu ni lui avoir parlé à l'hôtel de ville. Dans tous les
cas, s'il m'eût tenu le langage qu'on lui prête, ou je l'aurais fait
arrêter, ou je me serais éloigné de lui sans daigner lui répondre."

PREMIÈRE RÉPONSE À LA TROISIÈME INFIRMATION

"La garde nationale de Saint-Quentin demandait deux élèves de
l'École polytechnique pour la commander; elle avait envoyé, en
conséquence, une députation à la Fayette, et lui avait, en même
temps, fait passer l'avis qu'il serait facile d'enlever le régiment
caserné à la Fère. La Fayette mande auprès de lui deux élèves de
l'École, et les envoie à la commission municipale. Ils arrivent
accompagnés de M. Odilon Barrot. Seul, M. Mauguin se promenait
dans la salle. Instruit de l'objet de leur visite, il prit une plume, et
commença une proclamation qui s'adressait au régiment de la Fère.
Mais M. Odilon Barrot interrompit son collègue par ces mots:
Laissez-leur faire cela; ils s'y entendent mieux que nous! M. Mauguin
céda la plume à l'un des deux jeunes gens.
"La proclamation faite, le général Lobau se présente: on la lui donne
à signer, il refuse et sort. IL NE VEUT RIEN SIGNER, dit alors M.
Mauguin; tout à l'heure encore, il refusait sa signature à un ordre
concernant l'enlèvement d un dépôt de poudres.—IL RECULE DONC?
répondit un des élèves de l'École polytechnique; mais rien n'est plus
dangereux, en révolution, que les hommes qui reculent. ...JE VAIS LE
FAIRE FUSILLER!—Y PENSEZ-VOUS! répliqua vivement M. Mauguin,
FAIRE FUSILLER LE GÉNÉRAL LOBAU! UN MEMBRE DU GOUVERNEMENT
PROVISOIRE!—LUI-MÊME, reprit le jeune homme EN CONDUISANT LE
DÉPUTE À LA FENÊTRE et en lui montrant une centaine d'hommes qui
avaient combattu à la caserne de Babylone, et JE DIRAIS À CES BRAVES
GENS DE FUSILLER LE BON DIEU, QU'ILS LE FERAIENT!" M. Mauguin se mit à
sourire, et signa la proclamation en silence."
(LOUIS BLANC, Histoire de dix ans.)

DEUXIÈME RÉPONSE À LA TROISIÈME INFIRMATION

"MON CHER DUMAS,—Je viens de lire, dans le numéro de la Presse que

vous m'avez envoyé ce matin, une lettre où M. Mauguin conteste
l'exactitude d'un récit que vous avez publié, et où mon nom figure à
côté du sien.
"Vous me demandez la réponse que j'ai à y faire. Je vous avoue que
je tiens assez peu à ce que l'on nie ou affirme telle ou telle des
scènes où j'ai pu être acteur plus ou moins obscur dans notre
grande lutte de juillet 1830; mais, puisque vous y tenez, JE DÉCLARE
QUE LA SCÈNE DE L'HÔTEL DE VILLE EST, sauf quelques détails de peu
d'importance, EXACTEMENT RACONTÉE DANS VOS Mémoires. Les
souvenirs de M. Mauguin le servent mal. JE SUIS SUR DE LA FIDÉLITÉ
DES MIENS. Ils concordent, d'ailleurs, parfaitement avec l'Histoire de
dix ans, publiée il y a longtemps déjà, et où vous avez, sans doute,
puisé les faits contestés aujourd'hui par M. Mauguin.
"Tout à vous.
"CHARRAS
"BRUXELLES, 13 mars 1853"

QUATRIÈME INFIRMATION
"On a dit, dans votre journal, et M. Dumas a répété, je crois, que M.
Casimir Périer nous avait refusé deux millions que nous lui
demandions pour une affaire importante; il n'a jamais eu à nous
refuser et nous n'avons jamais eu à lui demander deux millions ni
aucune autre somme."

RECTIFICATION
"Je n'ai pas dit qu'on eût demandé à M. Casimir Périer deux millions,
somme qui, effectivement, vaut la peine qu'on y réfléchisse avant de
la donner.
"J'ai dit:
"La moitié des combattants mourait de faim sur les places publiques,
et demandait du pain. On se tourna d'un mouvement unanime vers
M. Casimir Périer, le même qui proposait, la veille, d'offrir quatre
millions au due de Raguse. Ah! messieurs, répondit-il, j'en suis
vraiment désespéré pour ces pauvres diables; mais il est plus de
quatre heures et ma caisse est fermée."

RÉPONSE A LA QUATRIÈME INFIRMATION

"Sur ces entrefaites, on vint annoncer que beaucoup d'ouvriers
manquaient de pain; il fallait de l'argent. On s'adressa à M. Casimir
Périer, qui répondit: IL EST PLUS DE QUATRE HEURES; MA CAISSE EST
FERMÉE."

(Louis BLANC, Histoire de dix ans.)

CINQUIÈME ET DERNIÈRE INFIRMATION

"La commission municipale de 1830 n'a pas constitué un
gouvernement aussi inactif, aussi introuvable que M. Alexandre
Dumas se complaît à l'affirmer. Il s'en serait convaincu lui-même à
cette époque, s'il eût seulement jeté les yeux sur les murs de Paris,
placardés chaque jour de nos nombreux décrets."

RÉPONSE
M. Mauguin m'accuse à tort de ne pas rendre justice à l'activité de la
commission municipale; car, justement, à propos du premier de ses
décrets, j'ai écrit ceci dans mes Mémoires:
"Voilà donc la bourgeoisie à l'œuvre, et recommençant, le jour
même du triomphe populaire, son travail de réaction!
"Reconnaissez-vous, abordez-vous avec des cris de joie, embrassez-
vous, hommes des faubourgs, jeunes gens des écoles, étudiants,
poètes, artistes; levez les bras au ciel, remerciez Dieu, criez
Hosannah! Vos morts ne sont pas sous terre, vos blessures ne sont
pas pansées, vos lèvres sont encore noires de poudre, vos cœurs
battent encore joyeusement se croyant libres;—et déjà les hommes
d'intrigue, les hommes de finance, les hommes à uniforme, tout ce
qui se cachait, tremblait, priait pendant que vous combattiez, vous
vient impudemment prendre des mains la victoire et la liberté,
arrache les palmes de l'une, coupe les ailes de l'autre, et fait deux
prostituées de vos deux chastes déesses!
"Tandis que vous fusillez, place du Louvre, un homme qui a pris un
vase de vermeil; tandis que vous fusillez, sous le pont d'Arcole, un
homme qui a pris un couvert d'argent, on vous calomnie, on vous
déshonore là-bas, dans ce grand et bel hôtel que, par une
souscription nationale, vous rachèterez un jour, enfants sans
mémoire et au cœur d'or! pour en faire don à son propriétaire, qui
se trouve ruiné n'ayant plus que quatre cent mille livres de rente!
"Écoutez et instruisez-vous!—Audite et intelligite!
"Voici le premier acte de cette commission municipale qui vient de
s'instituer:
"Les députés présents à Paris ont dû se réunir pour remédier aux
graves dangers QUI MENAÇENT LA SÛRETÉ DES PERSONNES ET DES
PROPRIÉTÉS.—Une commission a été nommée pour veiller aux
intérêts de tous, en l'absence de toute organisation régulière."
"Comment concilier, maintenant, la prise de cet arrêté avec ce que
dit M. Mauguin, dans la lettre à laquelle nous répondons, de ce
même peuple qui, selon la commission municipale, menaçait la
sûreté des personnes et des propriétés?
"Voici ce que dit M. Mauguin:
"Jamais autorité ne fut obéie aussi ponctuellement que la nôtre;
jamais peuple ne se montra aussi docile, aussi courageux, aussi ami
de l'ordre que celui de Paris en 1830.
"Convenons que la commission connaissait bien mal ce peuple ou, le
connaissant, lui faisait gratuitement une bien grave insulte!
"Mais la commission ne connaissait pas le peuple; elle ne l'avait pas
vu.
"Cela tient à ce que la commission ne fut constituée que le 29 juillet
au soir, et que le peuple se battait depuis le 27 au matin.
"Nous attendons les nouvelles dénégations qui peuvent se produire,
et nous promettons d'y répondre aussi promptement, aussi
catégoriquement, aussi victorieusement qu'à celles de M. le chevalier
de Liniers et à celles de M. Mauguin.
"ALEX. DUMAS
"BRUXELLES, ce 13 mars 1853"

NOTE TO P. 357

In the Brussels edition of 1853, Dumas adds: "Happily, these lines of

Barbier supply all I could wish to have said:—

Oh! lorsqu'un lourd soleil chauffait les grandes dalles

Des ponts et de nos quais déserts,
Que les cloches hurlaient, que la grêle des balles
Sifflait et pleuvait par les airs;
Que, dans Paris entier, comme la mer qui monte,
Le peuple soulevé grondait,
Et qu'au lugubre accent des vieux canons de fonte
La Marseillaise répondait;
Certe, on ne voyait pas, comme au jour où nous
sommes,
Tant d'uniformes à la fois;
C'était sous des haillons que battaient les cœurs
d'hommes;
C'étaient, alors, de sales doigts
Qui chargeaient les mousquets et renvoyaient la
foudre;
C'était la bouche aux vils jurons
Qui mâchait la cartouche, et qui, noire de poudre,
Criait aux citoyens: 'Mourons!'
. . . . . . . . .
Mais, ô honte! Paris, si beau dans sa colère,
Paris, si plein de majesté,
Dans ce jour de tempête où le vent populaire
Déracina la royauté;
Paris, si magnifique avec ses funérailles,
Ses débris d'hommes, ses tombeaux,
Ses chemins dépavés et ses pans de murailles
Troués comme de vieux drapeaux;
Paris, cette cité de lauriers toute ceinte,
Dont le monde entier est jaloux,
Que les peuples émus appellent tous la sainte,
Et qu'ils ne nomment qu'à genoux;
Paris n'est maintenant qu'une sentine impure,
Un égout sordide et boueux,
Où mille noirs courants de limon et d'ordure
Viennent traîner leurs flots honteux;
Un taudis regorgeant de faquins sans courage,
D'effrontés coureurs de salons
Qui vont, de porte en porte et d'étage en étage,
Gueusant quelque bout de galons;
Une halle cynique aux clameurs indolentes,
Où chacun cherche à déchirer
Un misérable coin des guenilles sanglantes
Du pouvoir qui vient d'expirer!

Ainsi, quand dans sa bauge aride et solitaire,

Le sanglier, frappé de mort,
Est là tout palpitant, étendu sur la terre,
Et sous le soleil qui le mord;
Lorsque, blanchi de bave et la langue tirée,
Ne bougeant plus en ses liens,
Il meurt, et que la trompe a sonné la curée
À toute la meute des chiens,
Toute la meute, alors, comme une vague immense,
Bondit; alors, chaque matin
Hurle en signe de joie, et prépare d'avance
Ses larges crocs pour le festin;
Et puis vient la cohue, et les abois féroces
Roulent de vallons en vallons;
Chiens courants et limiers, et dogues, et molosses,
Tout se lance, et tout crie: 'Allons!
Quand le sanglier tombe et roule sur l'arène,
Allons! allons! les chiens sont rois!
Le cadavre est à nous; payons-nous notre peine,
Nos coups de dents et nos abois.
Allons! nous n'avons plus de valet qui nous fouaille
Et qui se pende à notre cou.
Du sang chaud! de la chair! allons, faisons ripaille,
Et gorgons-nous tout notre soûl!'
Et tous, comme ouvriers que l'on met à la tâche,
Fouillent ces flancs à plein museau,
Et de l'ongle et des dents travaillent sans relâche,
Car chacun en veut un morceau;
Car il faut au chenil que chacun d'eux revienne
Avec un os demi-rongé,
Et que, trouvant au seuil son orgueilleuse chienne,
Jalouse et le poil allongé,
Il lui montre sa gueule encor rouge et qui grogne,
Son os dans les dents arrêté,
Et lui crie, en jetant son quartier de charogne:
'Voici ma part de royauté!'"

END OF VOL. IV
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