The Confessions and Correspondence, Including the Letters to Malesherbes

Chronology of Events Reported in the Confessions

Chronology ofEventsReported in the Confessions Book I 1672 December 28: Birth of Rousseau's father, Isaac Rousseau. 1673 February 6: Birth of Rousseau's mother, Suzanne Bernard. 1704 Marriage of Rousseau's parents. 1705 Birth of Rousseau's brother, Francis. 1712 June 28: Birth of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 1722 October: Rousseau's father leaves Geneva after his quarrel with Captain Gautier, and Rousseau is sent to Bossey to live with the Lamberciers. 1724 Rousseau returns to Geneva to live with his uncle, Gabriel Bernard. Rousseau is apprenticed to the city clerk, M. Masseron. 1725 April: Rousseau is apprenticed to the engraver, Abel Du Commun. 1728 March 14: Rousseau decides to run away from Geneva after finding the city gates locked. Book II 1728 March 21: Rousseau meets Mme de Warens in Annecy. April 12: Rousseau enters the hospice for the catechumens in Turin. April 23: Rousseau is baptized a Catholic. IX x Chronology July: Rousseau enters the service of Mme de Vercellis. December: Death of Mme de Vercellis. Book III 1729 February: Probable beginning of Rousseau's employment with the Gouvon family. Summer: Rousseau returns to Mme deWarens in Annecy. Summer-Fall: Rousseau studies at the Lazarist Seminary and then begins to study music with M. Le Maitre. 1730 April: Rousseau abandons M. Le Maitre in Lyon. Book IV 1730 July: Rousseau escorts Merceret to Fribourg and presents himself as Vaussore de Villeneuve, a French musician, in Lausanne. Winter: Rousseau teaches music in Neuchatel. 1731 April: Rousseau becomes the interpreter for the fake Archimandrite of Jerusalem. June: Rousseau visits Paris for thefirsttime. September: Rousseau travels to Chambery by way of Lyon to rejoin Mme de Warens. BookV 1731 October: Rousseau begins work in the King's survey. 1732 June: Rousseau leaves the survey and begins to teach music. 1733 July: Rousseau travels to Besan$on to study with the Abbe Blanchard. (This might have taken place either a year earlier or a year later.) 1734 March: Death of Claude Anet. Chronology xi 1736 Probable date of Rousseau's and Mme de Warens'sfirststay at Les Charmettes. Book VI 1737 June: Rousseau is injured in an accident during a chemistry experiment. July: Rousseau returns to Geneva to receive his share of his mother's estate. September: Rousseau leaves Chambery for Montpellier to consult Dr. Fizes. 1738 February: Probable date of Rousseau's return to Chambery. 1740 April: Rousseau becomes tutor to the children of M. de Mably in Lyon. 1741 May: Rousseau returns to Chambery. Book VII 1741 End of December: Earliest possible date for Rousseau's arrival in Paris with his new system of musical notation. 1742 August 22: Rousseau reads his Project ConcerningNew SignsforMusic to the Academy of Sciences. 1743 January: Publication of the Dissertation onModernMusic. July 10: Rousseau leaves Paris to begin working as secretary to M. de Montaigu, the French Ambassador to Venice. September 4: Rousseau arrives in Venice. 1744 August 6: Rousseau leaves the Embassy after a quarrel with M. de Montaigu. October: Rousseau arrives in Paris. xii Chronology 1745 March: Rousseau meets Therfcse Levasseur. July: Rousseau completes The GallantMuses, Fall: Rousseau works on Ramirrtfs festival. 1746 Winter: Rousseau begins working as a secretary for the Dupin family. Birth of Rousseau'sfirstchild, who is put in the Foundling Hospital. 1747 May: Death of Rousseau's father. Fall: Rousseau writes The Reckless Engagement. 1748 Birth of Rousseau's second child. 1749 January-March: Rousseau writes articles on music for the Encyclopedia. July 24: Diderot is imprisoned in Vincennes. Book VIII 1749 August: Rousseau meets Grimm. October: On the way to visit Diderot, Rousseau reads the essay topic proposed by the Academy of Dijon, "Has the restoration of the sciences and arts tended to purify morals?" and immediately begins to write the Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts. 1750 July: The FirstDiscourse is awarded the prize by the Academy of Dijon. 1751 January: Publication of the FirstDiscourse. February: Rousseau gives up his position with the Dupins and starts to work as a music copyist. Spring: Birth of Rousseau's third child. October: Rousseau responds to the King of Poland's attack on the FirstDiscourse. November: Rousseau responds to Gautier's Refutation with his Letter to Grimm. Chronology xiii 1752 April: Rousseau responds to Bordes's attack with his Response to M. Bordes. Spring—Summer: Rousseau composes The Village Soothsayer. Performance of The Village...