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Revision as of 15:38, 5 January 2004
L'Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des mètiers (The Encyclopedia) was an early encyclopedia, published in France in the 18th century. The final volumes were released in 1772.
The great work, comprising 28 volumes, 71,818 articles, and 2,885 illustrations was edited by Jean Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert and Denis Diderot. D'Alembert left the project before its completion and the last volumes are solely the work of Diderot. Many of the most noted figures of the French enlightenment contributed to the work including Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu.
The writers of the encyclopedia saw it as destroying superstitions and providing access to human knowledge. It was a quintessential summary of thought and belief of the Enlightenment. In ancien regime France it caused a storm of controversy, however. This was mostly due to its religious tolerance. The encyclopedia praised Protestant thinkers and challenged Catholic dogma. The entire work was banned, but because it had many highly placed supporters work continued and each volume was delivered clandestinely to subscribers.
It was also a vast compendium of the technologies of the period, describing the traditional craft tools as well as the new devices of the Industrial revolution in the United Kingdom.
The Encyclopédie played an extremely important role in the intellectual ferment leading to the French Revolution.
External link
- On-line version: http://encyclopedie.inalf.fr/searchform.html (in French)