Skip to main content

Secondary sourceBook1905 (first printed 1886)

Rousseau, Volumes 1 and 2

John Morley · 1905 (first printed 1886)

A detailed 19th-century biographical and critical study of Rousseau's life and ideas by John Morley.

A major biography of Rousseau written over a century after his death, shaping how later readers understood him.

Ask Jean-Jacques Rousseau about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Full text (public-domain edition)

About this source

What it is

This is a two-volume biography of Jean-Jacques Rousseau written by John Morley, first printed in 1886 and reprinted several times into the early 20th century.

Why it matters

Morley's work was notable for offering a continuous personal history of Rousseau's life, drawing on earlier French sources including Rousseau's letters and the biography by Musset-Pathay. It shows how later scholars worked to understand and interpret Rousseau's life and character.

Look closer

  • Why does Morley say there was no full biography of Rousseau in English before his own?
  • What sources did Morley use to reconstruct Rousseau's life?
  • How might a biography written a century after Rousseau's death differ from one written by someone who knew him?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Jean-Jacques Rousseau sources

Meet the AI Jean-Jacques Rousseau →
Title page of Du Contrat Social ou Principes du Droit Politique by J. J. Rousseau, citoyen de Genève, printed at Amsterdam by Marc Michel Rey, MDCCLXII. Below the text is an engraved allegorical figure of a woman holding scales and a staff, flanked by trees, with Latin mottos above her. A handwritten inscription appears at top right.Book

Primary source

The Social Contract

Jean-Jacques Rousseau · 1762

Sepia-toned mezzotint print of a man in a tall fur hat and fur-collared coat, with his hand raised to his chest, set on a page of a bound book. Caption below reads Jean Jacques Rousseau, Vitam Impendere Vero, after Ramsay, published by David Martin.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Jean Jacques Rousseau

David Martin · 1766

Open book spread showing the title page of Rousseau's Discours sur l'origine et les fondemens de l'inégalité parmi les hommes, Amsterdam, 1755, with red and black printed text and a engraved vignette of a seated woman. On the left page is an engraved plate of men in a landscape with a figure pointing.Book

Primary source

Discourse on Inequality

Jean-Jacques Rousseau · 1754 (published 1755)

Black and white line engraving of an oval portrait of a man with curled powdered hair, white cravat, and dark coat, seated and smiling slightly, set within an ornate framed border with laurel leaves, ribbons, a book inscribed with a title, and a lamp. Caption at bottom reads 'Publish'd 1st of April 1780 By Fielding & Walker Pater Noster Row'.Painting

Secondary source

Engraving of Rousseau after La Tour's Portrait

E. Ficquet, after Maurice Quentin de La Tour · 1780

Title page of the 1762 first edition of Emile, ou de l'éducation by J. J. Rousseau, citoyen de Genève. Red and black print; A La Haye, chez Jean Néaulme, Libraire; Tome Premier; MDCCLXII.Book

Primary source

Emile, or On Education

Jean-Jacques Rousseau · 1762

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Jean-Jacques Rousseau now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions