{"product_id":"the-design-of-montaignes-essais-hardcover","title":"The Design of Montaigne's Essais - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eVittoria Fallanca\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat can design tell us about literature? What can literature tell us about design?Â\u003cem\u003eThe Design of Montaigne's 'Essais'\u003c\/em\u003e provides a model for answering these questions by analysing the uses and function of the term \u003cem\u003edessein\u003c\/em\u003e. Wresting design free from its intentionalist connotations and focusing instead on the polysemy of the term in its early modern usage, which connoted both a mental plan or intention, and a material drawing or sketch, this study emphasises the open-ended design of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e, placing particular importance on its affinities with the practice of sketching. Looking across the Italian border at theories and practices of drawing, the book places Montaigne's \u003cem\u003edessein\u003c\/em\u003e in dialogue with its Italian counterpart \u003cem\u003edisegno\u003c\/em\u003e, arguing for the importance of the visual dimension in Montaigne's thinking, and in his writerly imagination. The dynamism and restlessness of \u003cem\u003edessein\u003c\/em\u003e allow us to reconsider the visual metaphors used by Montaigne to characterise the project of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e in light of the errance of the drawn line. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVittoria Fallanca offers a fresh way to capture the essentially gerundive nature of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e, constructing a visual and spatial perspective on a text by tracking multiple lines of thought that are, paradoxically, designed to escape its author's intention and control. In following the vagaries of \u003cem\u003edessein\u003c\/em\u003e as it operates in Montaigne, the book also offers a perspective on the relationship between design and literary studies, the ways in which design can be put in our critical approaches as readers of literature, with a focus on the text as an object of use. Far from an end-oriented practice of self- or artistic control, design emerges in this book as a chancy, experimental encounter between mind and world.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eVittoria Fallanca, \u003cem\u003eLeverhulme Early Career Fellow, Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, University of Warwick\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVittoria Fallanca is a writer and academic. Her work and interests span literature, philosophy, and the visual arts. She was Career Development Fellow at New College, Oxford, from 2020-24. She is currently a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, University of Warwick. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.73 x 9.27 x 6.51 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 12, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49086502961400,"sku":"9780198985488","price":172.19,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0698\/5629\/7208\/files\/fpV19KnlwL9780198985488.webp?v=1781733047","url":"https:\/\/barneysbooksellers.com\/products\/the-design-of-montaignes-essais-hardcover","provider":"Barney's Book Sellers","version":"1.0","type":"link"}