Encyclopaedism proposed the organization of knowledge on an ordered and unified basis. Its tenets were gainsaid by Montaigne among others. Beroalde began his career as an encyclopaedist but gradually modified his views. Kenny uses his career as the focus of this study of Renaissance thought.

During the Renaissance, different conceptions of knowledge were debated. Dominant among these was encyclopaedism, which treated knowledge as an ordered and unified circle of learning in which branches were logically related to each other. By contrast, writers like Montaigne saw human knowledge as an inherently unsystematic and subjective flux. This study explores the tension between these two views, examining the theories of knowledge, uses of genre, and the role of fiction in philosophical texts. Drawing on examples from sixteenth and seventeenth- century texts, and particularly focusing on the polymath Beroalde de Verville, Kenny provides an in-depth study of the two competing conceptions of knowledge.

Kenny's erudition is impressive, and he offers many rich insights into the intellectual milieu of the late Renaissance, especially in France. His stress on the interrelatedness of philosophy and fiction deserves close attention.