Jean-Jacques: The Early Life and Work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1754 / Edition 2

by Maurice Cranston

Overview

In the first volume of his trilogy, noted political philosopher Maurice Cranston draws from original manuscript sources to trace Rousseau's life from his birth in provincial obscurity in Geneva, through his youthful wanderings, to his return to Geneva in 1754 as a celebrated writer and composer.

"[An] admirable biography which is as meticulous, calm, reasonable, and judicious as its subject is passionate and tumultuous."—Keith Michael Baker, Washington Post Book World

"The definitive biography, as scholarly as it is entertaining."—The Economist

"Exceptionally fresh . . . . [Cranston] seems to know exactly what his readers need to know, and thoughtfully enriches the background—both physical and intellectual—of Rousseau's youthful peregrinations . . . . He makes the first part of Rousseau's life as absorbing as a picaresque novel. His fidelity to Rousseau's ideas and to his life as it was lived is a triumph of poise."—Naomi Bliven, The New Yorker

"The most outstanding achievement of Professor Cranston's own distinguished career."—Robert Wokler, Times Literary Supplement

Maurice Cranston (1920-1993), a distinguished scholar and recipient of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his biography of John Locke, was professor of political science at the London School of Economics. His numerous books include The Romantic Movement and Philosophers and Pamphleteers, and translations of Rousseau's The Social Contract and Discourse on the Origins of Inequality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226118628
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	06/25/1991
Edition description:	1
Pages:	382
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Maurice Cranston (1920-1993) was an English academic, biographer, and intellectual historian. For many years he was a professor of political science at the London School of Economics. He was also a professor of political theory at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Cranston’s major works include biographies of John Locke, for which he received the 1957 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and Rousseau, Jean-Paul Sartre, and others. 

Table of Contents

List of Plates
Map
Introduction
1. Geneva
2. Bossey
3. Annecy
4. Turin
5. A Sentimental Education
6. Chambéry
7. Les Charmettes
8. Lyons
9. Paris
10. Venice
11. 'Les Muses Galantes'
12. The Encyclopaedist
13. The Moralist
14. The Philosopher of Music and Language
15. On the Origins of Inequality
16. The Reformer Reformed
17. The Return to Geneva
List of the Principal Abbreviations Used on the Notes
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

What Cranston has done is not so much to set the record straight as to tell us what the record is.
—Times Literary Supplement

Hampson

Cranston not only recreates for his readers a rounded view of Rousseau himself, he sets it firmly in the social and political context of Europe's ancien régime. The result is an engrossing work of history.
—New Statesman

Gray