This selection from representative works of the great French poet-philosopher is based on the Paris Morceaux Choisis volume, which was assembled by Valéry himself.

This is an informal collection of essays and speeches on the writers who in one way or another counted for Valéry in the shaping of his mind or in his affections and interests: Descartes, Voltaire, Stendhal, Goethe, Villon, Nietzsche, Pascal, Proust, Huysmans, Pierre Louÿs, Nerval, Rilke, Bergson, and others. The

Books about Selected Writings of Paul Valery

Valéry's essays on Leonardo, Poe, Mallarmé, and with these the "Teste Cycle," were that part of his work most central to his thought. The extensive selection included from his Notebooks is evidence of his enduring interest in these figures. The essays are, in fact, the only work with marginal glosses,

Poems ranging from "La Jeune Parque" and "Le Cimetière marin" to occasional and light verse written as letters to friends, dedications in books, and inscriptions on ladies' fans demonstrate the wide scope of Valéry's lyric preoccupation. The bilingual edition, with David Paul's English translations facing the French texts, includes the