ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the Essais of Michel de Montaigne, a work that literary historians often consider to be at the origins of the genre, could be a point of reference for what Johannes Riquet calls the travelling narrative. First launched in Bordeaux in 1580, in two modest volumes by local printer Simon Millanges, the Essais were reprinted in 1582 and slightly expanded to include notes from Montaigne's voyage to Italy between September 1580 and the same month in 1581. Plot points, recurring markers, image signs, verbal wind roses and coyly placed citations, as well as what Montaigne calls emblesmes supernumeraires, punctuate the discourse to imply that it can be read over and across itself. Montaigne takes leave of his house and home, his "maison," which connotes the cultural baggage of his heritage and family and a battery of domestic chores and annoyances.
