Blaise Pascal famously said that “all of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone”.
In 1790 a young French aristocrat living in Turin was confined to a house arrest for 42 days as a punishment for his involvement in a duel. He dealt with his predicament by writing a wonderfully witty response to it, while wearing pink and white pyjamas. What ensues is a travel book unlike any other. The second part, written years later, ‘A Nocturnal Expedition around My Room, is equally droll, learned and entertaining. In addition to the Voyage and Expedition, this edition also includes the dialogue “The Leper of the City of Aosta,” a preface by Xavier’s better-known older brother (the royalist philosopher Joseph de Maistre), and an introduction by Richard Howard.
