The Confessions of J.J. Rousseau,

The Nonesuch Press edition of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's major autobiographical work.

Published posthumously, The Confessions charts the life of the French Enlightenment philosophe Rousseau (1712-1778), from his birth in Geneva to the watchmaker Isaac Rousseau and Susannah Bernard, to his early education, religious conversion, relationship with Madame de Warens and his sexual exploits, revealing his most shameful secrets and innermost thoughts.

The work is often considered the first modern autobiography, and certainly Rousseau sensed the novelty of his narrative, opening book 1 with the observation that 'I have entered on a performance which is without example, whose accomplishment will have no imitator, I mean to present my fellow-mortals with a man in all the integrity of nature; and this man shall be myself!'

Number 141 of 800 limited edition copies; 2 vols; 8vo (23 x 13.5 cm); wood-engraved headpieces by Reynolds Stone, occasional light spotting; publisher's niger morocco, contrasting red morocco lettering-pieces to spine, top-edge gilt, rough-trimmed, spines and edges darkened, a little abraded with minor loss, very good; xxvi, [2], 415, [1]; [8], 389, [3]pp,

Dreyfus 113.