Originally published in 1999, this was the first comprehensive account of the work of the French modernist writer Paul Valery.

Introduction; Part I. Self-Science: 1. Towards a biography of the mind Ned Bastet; 2. Thinking-writing games of the Cahiers Paul Gifford; 3. Paradigms of the self: Valéry's mythical models Robert Pickering; 4. The fascination of science Judith Robinson-Valéry; 5. An art of rethinking: Valéry's 'negative philosophy' Régine Pietra; Part II. Self-Writings: 6. The poetics of practice and theory M. Jarrety; 7. 'Esprit, Attente, pur, éternel suspens ... ' Valéry's prose poetry Stephen Romer; 8. The Dialogues and Mon Faust: Valéry's republic of the mind William Marx; 9. Counter-fiction Brian Stimpson; 10. Major poems: the voice of the subject J.-M. Maulpoix; 11. Other voices: intertextuality and the art of pure poetry Suzanne Nash; 12. Manuscript steps: 'Les Pas' Florence de Lussy; Part III. Body, Mind, World: 13. An aesthetics of the subject: music and the visual arts Brian Stimpson; 14. Politics, history and the modern world Nicole Celeyrette-Pietri; 15. Valéry and the feminine Kirsteen Anderson; 16. Dream and the unconscious Malcolm Bowie; 17. Self and other: Valéry's 'lost object of desire' Paul Gifford; Conclusion.