{"product_id":"the-design-of-montaignes-essais-vittoria-fallanca-9780198985488","title":"The Design of Montaigne's Essais","description":"What 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. \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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Vittoria Fallanca\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0198985487\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780198985488\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/12\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.26lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.27h x 6.51w x 0.73d","brand":"Vittoria Fallanca","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48659666567423,"sku":"9780198985488","price":105.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_2854c354-202d-4d3c-a968-98379110d77a.jpg?v=1781202642","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-design-of-montaignes-essais-vittoria-fallanca-9780198985488","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}