Michel de Montaigne

Gustave Flaubert, renown French novelist who sought perfection in the descriptive details of his masterpieces, kept a copy of Montaigne's Essays on his bedside table. After translation into English in 1603, Montaigne's Essays were poured over and esteemed by Bacon, Shakspeare, Lord Byron, Thackery, Emerson, Huxley, T. S. Eliot, and many other well known writers. Even today, Montaigne's Essays continue to be studied by scholars everywhere in the world.