Montaigne's Consubstantial Book
Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle
Jen'ay pas plus faict mon livre que m'a faict, consubstantiel à son autheur … ” (I have not made my book any more than has me, a consubstantial with its author). That was no ordinary assertion in plain language. Montaigne explained his Essais as “concerned own self, an integral part of life; concerned some third-hand extraneous purpose, like all other books.” Its subject uniquely himself. His usage the term “consubstantial” projected design beyond literary theory imitation into theological paradigm divinity. Acknowledging that “well-known phrase” and “famous declaration,” criticism much interpreted Montaigne's book. Yet slight mention word itself been both undocumented inaccurate.
Renaissance Quarterly