J.S. Mill?s Journal and Notebook of a Year in France, May 1820-July 1821

The Kwansei Gakuin University obtained a notebook of John S. Mill’s sojourn in France (1820-21) in February 2001. This notebook consists of diary entries dated from July 20 to September 15, 1820 and miscellaneous notes. One remarkable feature of this notebook is its inclusion of the entries dated from August 3 to 9, that are missing from both the Journal in the British Library collection and the notebook in the St. Andrews University Library collection.

The book reproduces the entries of this week-long blank, and in doing so, presents a picture of John S. Mill’s life in this week. According to these entries, his French language, French literature, chemistry, zoology, metaphysics, logic, mathematics and other lessons continued right up until August 9, the day before his departure on a trip to the Pyrenees. He not only read books and studied French as before but also wrote an essay about "dialogue on government." Finally, the book presents a complete version of John S. Mill’ sojourn in France (1820-21), providing scholars for the first time with the information of Mill’s life and the education he received during those years.

Takutoshi Inoue is Professor at Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan.