Diderot (Denis) et Alembert (Jean Le Rond D') - Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers - 1751-1780

Original edition of the editorial and philosophical monument of the Enlightenment period published between 1751 and 1780.

It is 35/35 volumes in-folio (41 x 26.5 cm).
17 volumes
Planches: 11 volumes
- Supplement: 5 volumes
- Table: 2 volumes

Completed the folded table of the 'Figurative System of Human Knowledge' and practically all the plates (more than 3000), with only two plates missing in volume IX (Blacksmithing). The 3 famous plates of hermaphrodites, often absent, are well present here.

Full mottled calf from the period, with decorated spine, title and volume labels in red morocco (the binding of volume VII slightly mismatched, with title and volume labels in brown for the plates of volume VI).

There are 2 pages missing in volume I: pages 443 to 446.

Provenance: Ex-libris of Tulle, Marquis of Villefranche.



Details of the volumes :

The user provided only the word 'Texte :' which indicates the start of a text, but no actual content was included. Since there is no text to translate, I will acknowledge this and clarify the situation.

- Volume I: [2]ff title and dedication, 52 pages, 714 pages.
With a fold-out table
HhhII and HhhIII sheets repeated twice – KkkII and KkkIII sheets are missing (pages 443 to 446).
Work of verse on the second level of volume I.

- Tome II: [2] ff, IV pp, 871 pp, [1] p.

- Tome III: 1753 - [2]ff, XVIpp, 905pp.

- Tome IV: 1754 - [2]ff, IIpp, 1098pp.

Volume V: 1755 - [2]ff, XVIII pages, 1011 pages (pagination in folio pages from 633 to 648).

- Volume VI: 1756 - [2]ff, VIIIpp, 928pp.

- Volume VII: 1757 - [2]ff, XIVpp, 1025pp.
Slightly mismatched binding, first hinge split (solid cover).

- Volume VIII: 1765 - Neufchatel, Samuel Faulche and company, 1765. [1]f, IIpp, 936 pages and a folding chart.

Volume IX: 1765. [2]ff, 956 pages.
Pagination error: pages 781-782 are missing without any gaps.

Volume X: 1765. [1]f, 927 pages.
Angular wetting pages 21 to 23 then pages 31-32. No pages 57-58 missing. Slight printing shift on page 360.

- Volume XI: 1765. [1]f, 963 pages.
Ooooo notebook paginated pages 829 to 836, placed between pages 836 and 837, with no missing pages.

- Volume XII: [1]f, 965 pages.

Volume XIII: [1]f, 914 pages, 34 pages of tables (geometry).

- Volume XIV: [1]f, 949 pages.

- Tome XV : [1]f, 950pp.
Wet spots at the top of pages 349 to 352.

Volume XVI: [1]f, 962 pages.

- Volume XVII: [1]f, 890 pages.
Pass from page 838 to 849 without missing any.

--

Boards:

- Volume I: 1762. 269 plates

- Vol II: Second delivery in two parts: first part: 233 plates

Volume III: Part 2: 201 plates.
Small tear on the edge of the folding board in the Corderie.

- Vol IV: Third delivery: 1765 - 298 plates.

Volume V: Fourth delivery: 1767 - 248 plates

Vol VI: Title and volume pieces in Havana - 294 plates.

Volume VII: 1769 - 259 plates - 2 tables of anchor proportions. The Carpenter's plates in Buildings: plate II No. 4 - plates III, III No. 2 are floating.
Page 5 of the plans for the 'Furniture Carpenter', bound after the 'Carriage Carpenter' table.

- Volume VIII: 254 plates.

- Vol IX: 1771: Eighth installment or ninth volume: 251 out of 253 plates.
Locksmithing: missing plate XII, plate XV - plate XVI is numbered XV.

- Vol X: 337 plates.

- Vol XI: Tenth and final installment. 239 plates. End with two sheets of alphabetical table of contents (small tear with one letter missing).
Minor damage to some headdresses, but nothing missing.

A total of 2 plates are missing (Locksmithing, Vol. IX).

--

Supplement volumes

- Volume I: Amsterdam, Rey, 1776. [2]ff, IVpp, 926pp.
3 fold-out charts: “General Division of Africa”, “General Division of America”, “General Division of Asia”,

- Volume II: [2]ff, 933pp.
1 fold-out chart “General Division of Europe”.

- Volume III: 1777. [2]ff, 984pp.
1 table “Figurative system of the parts of geography”.

- Volume IV: 1777. [2]ff, 1004pp.

- Supplement plates: Paris, Panckoucke, Stoupe, Brunet, Amsterdam, Rey, 1777.
[3]ff, 22pp, 244 plates (215 of which 29 doubles count as two).

--

Tabletop volumes

- Volume I: Paris, Panckoucke, Amsterdam, Rey, 1780. 944pp.
1 fold-out chart "Genealogy of the Principal Sciences and Arts"

- Volume II: 1780. 907pp.
Work of verses in the first course.



Diderot (Denis) and Alembert (Jean Le Rond D')
Encyclopedia or Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Trades, by a society of men of letters.
Paris, Briasson, David, Le Breton, Durand, ... 1751-1780
35 folio volumes

Subject: Exceptional Diderot & D’Alembert Encyclopedia, 35 volumes & over 3000 plates, Philosophy, Enlightenment, Infolio 1751-1780



Both a compilation of information and a philosophical manifesto, the Encyclopaedia gathers 71,818 articles whose infinite variety reveals the evolution of knowledge. It required many collaborators, including Buffon, Condorcet, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Grimm, Turgot, Daubanton, Voltaire, and nearly fifty illustrators and engravers.

In the preliminary speech, d'Alembert clearly states the goal of this vast undertaking: 'The work we are beginning (and wish to complete) has two objectives: as an Encyclopédie, it should expose as much as possible, the order and connection of human knowledge; as a reasoned Dictionary of sciences, it should outline the general principles underlying each art, whether liberal or mechanical, and the most essential details that form its core and substance.'

The editorial history of the Encyclopédie experienced many upheavals and spanned nearly thirty years. By placing man at the center of the universe, the Encyclopédie drew the ire of the Church, which condemned it twice: first in 1752, following the condemnation of the theology thesis of one of its many collaborators, Abbé Jean-Martin de Prades, and again in 1759, simultaneously with Helvetius's work De l’Esprit. It was thanks to the support of Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, responsible for royal censorship, that Diderot and d'Alembert successfully carried out their task.