The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is an autobiography covering the first fifty-three years of Rousseau's life, until 1765. The twelve books of the Confessions are divided into two distinct sets, defined by Rousseau himself: the first part consisting of books i to vi with the Preamble, written in 1765-1767, covers the years 1712-1740 (years of training, from birth in Geneva to settling in Paris at age 28) while the second part, made up of books vii to xii and written in 1769-1770, covers the years 1741-1765, that is to say his life in Paris in the circles of music and philosophers, with his successes (Discourse - La Nouvelle Héloïse) and his setbacks, such as the attacks which followed the publication of Émile, who forced him to flee to Switzerland. The work will have an entirely posthumous publication: in 1782 for the first part and in 1789 for the second. Rousseau had, however, already given public readings of certain extracts. The title Confessions was undoubtedly chosen in reference to the Confessions of Saint Augustine. Rousseau thus performs an act without religious value strictly speaking, but with a strong symbolic connotation: that of the admission of sins, of confession. Combining sincerity, humility and self-advocacy, Rousseau seeks to paint a positive portrait of himself and essentially presents himself as a victim of life. The work of Confessions nevertheless founded the modern genre of autobiography and constitutes a landmark text in French literature.