Volume 3 of the complete edition contains Valéry's writings on literature, produced between 1920 and 1945. His reflections range from the ballads of François Villon from the 15th century to the poetry of Stéphane Mallarmé, and extend to Marcel Proust's 20th-century novel cycle "In Search of Lost Time." The chronologically arranged writings, speeches, and prefaces create a curated panorama of French intellectual history, complemented by remarks on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and excerpts from a correspondence with Rainer Maria Rilke.