Diderot-d'Alembert Encyclopedia

The definitive compendium of human knowledge in the Enlightenment

The Encyclopedia, also known as the Encyclopédie, was a monumental work published in France during the 18th century. It was edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert and became one of the most important and influential works of the Enlightenment.

The Encyclopedia was an ambitious project that sought to collect and organize all the available human knowledge at that time. The work consists of 28 volumes, which include articles on diverse topics such as philosophy, science, art, politics, economy, religion, and many others.

The 28 volumes include 17 volumes of articles (published between 1751 and 1765), 11 volumes of illustrations (published between 1762 and 1772).

Although there are some editions with variations in the number of volumes, these numbers are the most commonly accepted.

If we include the additional five volumes of supplements that were published between 1776 and 1777, and two volumes of indexes published in 1780, the number of volumes increases to 35.

The editors of the Encyclopedia faced many difficulties throughout its elaboration. The work was considered subversive by the French authorities, who attempted to censor and prohibit it on several occasions. However, the Encyclopedia managed to survive and became a symbol of freedom of thought and the dissemination of knowledge.

The Encyclopedia is a fundamental work for understanding the Enlightenment and its intellectual legacy. In addition to collecting and organizing human knowledge, the work also included critical reflections on the society and politics of the time. The Encyclopedia contributed to spreading the ideas of the Enlightenment throughout Europe and laid the foundations for the French Revolution and the fight for equality and freedom.

In summary, Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopedia is a monumental work that represents one of the greatest intellectual achievements of the Enlightenment. It is a testament to the fight for freedom of thought and the importance of the dissemination of knowledge for human progress.

The 28 volumes include 17 volumes of articles (published between 1751 and 1765), 11 volumes of illustrations (published between 1762 and 1772).

Although there are some editions with variations in the number of volumes, these numbers are the most commonly accepted.

If we include the additional five volumes of supplements that were published between 1776 and 1777, and two volumes of indexes published in 1780, the number of volumes increases to 35.

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Diderot-d'Alembert Encyclopedia
The definitive compendium of human knowledge in the Enlightenment

Description

Diderot-d'Alembert Encyclopedia

The definitive compendium of human knowledge in the Enlightenment

The edition we present is a first original printing of Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopedia, and it is the rarest and by far the most important historically.

Encyclopédie, or Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts by a Society of Men of Letters. Ordered and published by Mr. Diderot of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Fine Letters of Prussia; and as for the mathematical part by Mr. d'Alembert of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris, Prussia, and the Royal Society of London. Paris, Amsterdam, 1751-1777.

This original work consists of 33 volumes (all volumes are first editions):

* 28 volumes that would be the main body of the encyclopedia, including 17 volumes of articles published between 1751 and 1765, 11 volumes of illustrations published between 1762 and 1772.

* 5 additional volumes of supplements (first edition) that were published between 1776 and 1777.

Bound in calf leather of the time.

Complete with the frontispiece and the 3129 plates.

The spines of volumes I to VII are adorned with ?pomegranate? seal and have marbled endpapers. All other volumes feature a spine heat sealed with a wind rose tool surrounded by four ribbon tools; their endpapers are ochre-colored. Red-dyed edges.

Volumes I to VII were published in Paris from 1751 to 1757 under the direction of Le Breton, Briasson, David l'Aîné, and Durand.

Volume I is complete with the fold-out plate titled "Figurative System of Human Knowledge" and the rarely existing cardboard on page 762 for the article Asple with the mention: "Suppress the article Asple in its entirety and replace it with the following...".

These first seven volumes, in which Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, along with Diderot and d'Alembert, participated, were banned by the royal censor and placed on the Index by Rome, and the edition was interrupted for 8 years.

Volumes VIII to XVII were printed in Paris by Le Breton, clandestinely, under the false address of Samuel Faulche in Neuchâtel; they bear the date 1765 and do not have false titles.

Volume XIII, whose title is improperly rebound, is complete with the "Table for Finding the Divisors of Numbers up to 100,000," placed at the end of the volume and paginated from 1 to 34.

The four volumes of the Text Supplement are edited by Rey in Amsterdam and Panckoucke, Stoupe, and Brunet in Paris, under the direction of J.B. Robinet, in 1776-1777.

The first eleven volumes of plates appeared from 1762 to 1772 in the associated bookstores of Paris. The Suite du Recueil de planches (or twelfth volume) is published by Panckoucke, Stoupe, and Brunet, in Amsterdam, in 1777.

The 3129 plates, mostly fold-out, engraved in copper, are in good condition.

Diderot and d'Alembert surrounded themselves with more than one hundred fifty collaborators, recruiting the most famous writers, philosophers, artists, artisans, doctors, and scientists of their time, including Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, d'Holbach, Condorcet, Buffon, Turgot, Necker, Tronchin, the clockmaker Berthoud, etc.

This first printing is the rarest and by far the most important historically. It is considered a monument of the thought and the French publishing of the Age of Enlightenment. Its success, despite its considerable subscription price, was resounding and led to reprints and counterfeits in Geneva, Lucca, Livorno, etc. (In French, in the text, BN, 1990, n°156).