The Best Translation of The Complete Essays
The Complete Essays was written in French. 2 recommended editions, ranked — with Gröblé’s verdict on which to read first.
Donald M. Frame
Stanford University Press · 1958 · 908 pages
Frame's 1958 English became the American Montaigne for half a century. Natural, conversational, the prose of a man thinking on the page. Lighter apparatus than Screech and a warmer read.
Every recommended edition, compared
Screech's Penguin is the scholar's Montaigne. Tight on the self-questioning voice, with notes that catch the classical allusions Frame leaves unmarked. The one to reach for when you want to know what Montaigne is quoting.
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Reading The Complete Essays in translation
The Complete Essays was written in French, so unless you read French, the translator decides the book you actually experience — its register, its pace, how it sounds read aloud. Two editions of the same work can feel like different books.
The ranking above is Gröblé’s: one reader’s verdict on which English gets you closest, not a publisher’s blurb. Start with the top pick; reach for the others when you want a different angle on the original.