ENCYCLOPÉDIE, ENCYCLOPEDISTS

From Philosopedia

ENCYCLOPÉDIE, ENCYCLOPEDISTS

The Encyclopédie; ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts, et des les métiers was the work of the French Encyclopedists, or philosophes.

Originally, it was to have been a translation of the Chambers Cyclopedia under the editorship of Abbé Gua de Malves, but the project was abandoned because of disagreements. The publisher, Le Breton, then agreed to let Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert edit an entirely new work, and they were aided by Quesnay, Montesquieu, Voltaire, J. J. Rousseau, Turgot, and others.

A first volume was produced in 1751, and its rational, secular emphasis infuriated the Jesuits, who attacked the work as irreligious. In 1759 Alembert resigned as editor, but Diderot with the help of the chevalier de Jaucourt brought the clandestine printing of the work to completion in 1772.

Of its twenty-eight volumes, eleven were devoted to plates illustrating the industrial arts. In the shop, a printer deleted some articles which contained overly liberal opinions, but the work represented a successful championing of the skepticism and rationalism of the Enlightenment.

In 1780, a five-volume supplement and a two-volume index were added. The encyclopedia stressed scientific determinism, attacked legal, juridical, and clerical abuses, and was a factor in the intellectual preparation for the French Revolution. Upon seeing the collection, and it is available for example in the 42nd Street Public Library in New York City, the viewer is amazed at the quality of workmanship, the scope, and particularly the large size of the books.

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