ABSTRACT
Montaigne was famous years before his death. In 1584, La Croix du Maine described how Montaigne published the essays in 1580 and 1582 in Bordeaux and Rouen and several other towns ‘tant cet ouvrage a ete bien recu de tous hommes de lettres’. In the first half of the century Montaigne was avidly read, admired and loved in France. The doubleness of everything in this universe so often discussed by Montaigne can be seen as the dramatist’s experimentation with tragedy and comedy - seeing everything from a double point of view. Pope’s deep affection for Montaigne is revealed in the marginal comments in his copy of Cotton’s translations.
