DIDEROT'S ENCYCLOPÉDIE, OU DICTIONNAIRE RAISONNÉ DES SCIENCES, DES ARTS ET DES MÉTIERS, PAR UNE SOCIÉTÉ DE GENS DE LETTRES 1751-80 by DIDEROT D'ALEMBERT: Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une Société de gens de lettres. I-XVII + Supplement I-IV + Planches I-XI + Supplement Planches + Table analytique et raisonnée des metieres. I-II. Paris - Neufchastel

FIRST EDITION OF THE GREAT FRENCH ENCYCLOPEDIE. Perfect condition! (Price on request)

DIDEROT, DENIS, - D'ALEMBERT, JACQUES. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une Société de gens de lettres. I-XVII + Supplement I-IV + Planches I-XI + Supplement Planches + Table analytique et raisonnée des metieres. I-II. Paris - Neufchastel - Amsterdam 1751-80.

35 volumes. Comprising:
Volumes I-VII. Paris: Briasson, David l'aîné, Le Breton & Durand, 1751-1757.
Volumes VIII-XVII. Neuchâtel: Samuel Faulche, 1765.
Supplément à l'encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une société de gens de lettres [edited by Jean Baptiste René Robinet]. Volumes I-IV Amsterdam: M. M. Rey, 1776-1777.
Recueil de planches, sur les sciences, les arts libéraux, et les arts mécaniques, avec leur explication. Volumes I-XI. Paris: Briasson, David l'aîné, Le Breton & Durand, 1762-1772.
Suite du recueil de planches [Volume 12]. Paris: Panckoucke, Stoupe & Brunet; Amsterdam: M. M. Rey, 1777.
Table analytique et raisonnée des matières contenues dans les XXXIII volumes in-folio du Dictionnaire des sciences, des arts et des Métiers, et dans son supplément [edited by Pierre Mouchon]. Volumes I-II. Paris: Panckoucke; Amsterdam: M. M. Rey, 1780.

Folio 39x24 cm (15¼x9½"). Engraved frontispiece, 1 folding engraved genealogical table in vol. I, 7 folding printed tables, 3126 engraved plates (partly folding, double plate = 2 plates, tripple plates =3). Lacking, according to plate lists, 4 plates; some spotting and browning, some offsetting, some with dampstains to margins).

Contemporary marbled full calf bindings, partly worn and rubbed, in very good condition, richly gilt spines in compartments with labels, spines prenovated by specialist, some covers littlerubbed.

Text with some spotting and staining, some minor marginal tears, minor notes, vol. IV spotted. A few volumes with some dampstaining, mainly in the margins or corners, minor foxing, some minor tears (in Table II tears to title and endpaper), 1 repair to false title in vol. IV. A few leaves in vol. XI partly loose. 35 volumes.

Some irregular pagination. Vol. VIII-XVII lacks false titles.

This is the first edition of The Great French Encyclopedie, a monument in the European intellectual history, which formed the base for the Age of Enlightenment and contributed to the French revolution. Diderot's aim was "to change the common way of thinking". Some of the more famous contributers were Rousseau, Daubenton, Montesquieu and Voltaire, but more than 140 people contributed with articles to the work and Diderot himself wrote almost 1000 articles on various subjects. A superb copy in an attractive contemporary binding. "A monument in the history of European thought; the acme of the age of reason; a prime motive force in undermining the ancien régime and in heralding the French Revolution; a permanent source for all aspects of eighteenth-century civilization" (PMM). This famous French work that spanned close to thirty years in the making, originated in a French translation of Ephraim Chamber's Cyclopaedia, begun in 1743 and finished in 1745 by John Mills, an Englishman resident in France. Mills, along with his learned companion, an unknown German writer, Gottfried Selle, applied to the Paris publisher Lebreton to publish the work in four volumes. Mills and Lebreton disputed constantly, so much so that when Mills brought an action against him in regards to his demands for an account, Lebreton pronounced the privilege between them informal, and obtained another one. Mills was despoiled of the work he had both planned and executed and had to return to England. The first volume still refers to Chambers 'Dictionnaire' as its main source.

The French publisher's then offered the work to Diderot, who came highly recommended after his well received Dictionnaire universel de medicine, had been published in 1743-45. Diderot found the work handed to him badly composed and full of errors. He then proposed and finally persuaded the publishers to undertake a far more original and comprehensive work. The work was to form eight volumes with at least 600 plates. His friend D'Alembert undertook to edit the mathematics, and at least twenty or more contributors were allotted to various subjects. The contributors were among the major intellectual figures of the day and included such notables as Rembrandt, Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Turgot and Buffon.

The first volume was published in July 1751, and delivered to the subscribers in August. The second volume appeared in January 1752. "Each volume as it appeared caused a sensation throughout Europe. The court, the church, the judiciary were outraged; the number of subscribers, originally one thousand, rose to four thousand. In 1759, the seven volumes so far published were banned by the French Attorney-General and condemned by the Pope" (PMM). Despite all this, this great work continued to be published by Lebreton until 1765, after which date Panckoucke continued with a four-volum. All in all a fantastic work in very good condition.

Complete set of the first editions of one of the landmark works of the Age of Reason, presenting the state of knowledge in the second half of the 18th century, and filling the role of a catalyst in undermining the ancient régime and in heralding the French Revolution. Originally conceived as a simple translation of Chambers' 1728 Cyclopedia, this work, under the guidance of various publishers and Diderot himself, soon evolved as nothing short of a landmark in scholarly endeavor. The spectacular plates present scientific and technical achievements, the state of zoological and botanical knowledge, geographic and cartographic developments, and more. Grolier/Horblitt 25b; John Lough, Essays on the Encyclopédie of Diderot and D'Alembert, 1968; Norman 1:637; PMM 200.

Including the 3 rare Hermafrodite planches in all & text. In Paris 07.

EXTREMELY RARE & VERY GOOD CONDITION.

PRICE € 60.000,00, transport national & international from Paris Grenelle (07) included.