Beschreibung:

Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers.
Paris, Neuchatel and Amsterdam: 1751-1780. 35 volumes. Folio (385 x 250 mm). Contemporary full mottled calf, spines tooled and lettered in gilt with morocco lettering labels in gilt and 6 raised bands. Condition: some light intermittent foxing, dampstain to preliminaries of vol. 17, other minor faults; bindings rubbed at places, head and footbands broken on some vols., some joints cracked at ends, other light chipping and edgewear. Provenance: Emile Du Chalouge (contemporary signed label to pastedown of many volumes); Harry & Virginia Walton. Sold not subject to return. Comprising: Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris: Le Breton for Briasson, David, Le Breton, and Durand, 1751-1757; Vols. VIII-XVII: 'Neuchatel: Samuel Faulche & Compagnie' [Paris: Le Breton for Briasson, David, Le Breton, and Durand], 1765. 17 volumes. Frontispiece, 'Explication' leaf and half-titles to vols. I-VIII. Titles with woodcut vignettes, in-text woodcut music, diagrams, and tables, one folding. Receuil des planches. Volumes I-VII: Paris: Briasson, David, Le Breton, and Durand; Volume 6 supplied from another set but similarly bound; Vols. VIII-XI: Paris: Briason, 1762-1772. 11 volumes. Half-titles. 2551 engraved plates, many folding. In-text tables and diagrams. Supplément à l'Encyclopédie. Vols I-IV: Amsterdam: [Jean-Georges-Antoine Stoupe] for Marc Michel Rey; [And:] Suite de receuil de planches . Amsterdam and Paris: [Jean-Georges-Antoine Stoupe] for Charles-Joseph Panckoucke, Jean-Georges-Antoine Stoupe, Pierre-Prudence Brunet, and Marc Michel Rey, 1776-1777. Half-titles. 215 plates and maps, many folding. 5 volumes. Table analytique et raisonnée. Paris and Amsterdam: Imprimerie de Stoupe for Charles Joseph Panckoucke and Marc-Michel Rey, 1780. 2 volumes. Half-titles. Engraved folding plate. a fine complete set of the "acme of the age of reason." PMM also describes Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédie as "a monument in the history of European thought … a prime motive force in underminding the ancien régime and in heralding the French Revolution; a permanent source for all aspects of eighteenth century civilization" and as an aside, "and a classic example of how not to arrange a work of reference." The Encyclopédie remains an unparalled achievement that almost never was. By the time the first seven volumes were published in 1759 the book had been banned by the French Attorney-General and condemned by the Pope and the work was paused. In 1765 the ambitious Charles Joseph Panckoucke took over the project, finished the text by 1765 and the 1772. The Supplément and Table Analytique were printed in Amsterdam in 1776-80. By 1780 the entire Encyclopédie was complete and its place in French scientific publishing assured. No science project, not even the Description de l'Egypte, was as comprehensive and magnificent as the Encyclopédie. Grolier Science; J. Lough Essays on the Encyclopédie; Norman 637; PMM 200; R.N. Schwab, W.E. Rex and J. Lough 'Inventory of Diderot's Encyclopédie' I and VII, in: Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century (Geneva: 1971 and Oxford: 1984), 80 and 223.