Dictionaire (Dictionnaire) Historique et Critique

Rotterdam: La Compagnie des Libraires, 1702. Second Edition. Hardcover (Full Leather). Very Good Condition. Three volumes plus the supplement (published 1722 in Geneva to supplement the editions of 1702 and 1715) in full calf. Quite worn, dry, corners bumped, hinges cracked, boards still attached by cords but nearly detached on the front boards of volumes 2 and 3, surface scrapes etc. Internally very good or better - scattered foxing, browning, minor marks, small dampstain briefly in the far right margin of the third volume.

A nice set of what was at the time the greatest work of encyclopedic scholarship and set the stage for Diderot and D'Alembert's end of century triumph.Originaly conceived in exile as a counterpoint to Moréry's essentially counter-reformation work "Le Grand Dictionnaire Historique", "Bayle championed reason against belief, philosophy against religion, tolerance against superstition...For over half a century, until the publication of the Encyclopédie, Bayle's Dictionnaire dominated enlightened thinking in every part of Europe." Printing and the Mind of Man 155. Size: Folio. 4-volume set (complete). Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Over 3 kilos. Category: Reference; Antiquarian & Rare. Inventory No: 047091.