DIDEROT (Denis) - ALEMBERT (D'). Encyclopédie,... Lot 614

DIDEROT (Denis) - ALEMBERT (D'). Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une société de gens de lettres. Paris: Briasson, David l'aîné, Le Breton, Durand, 1751-1772; Neufchâtel: Samuel Faulche & compagnie, 1765 [i.e.: Genève: Cramer, 1770-1776 (for the first 28 volumes)]; Amsterdam: M.M. Rey, 1776-1777 [volumes I to IV of the supplement]; Paris: Panckoucke, Stoupe, Brunet; Amsterdam: M.M. Tey, 1777 [volume V of the supplement]; Amsterdam: M.M. Rey, 1780 [table]. - 35 volumes in-folio, 402 x 246. Marbled havana calf, ornate ribbed spine, red edges (period binding). Adams, G5 and G1 pp. 298-305 for the supplement volumes and table. Geneva counterfeit of the first 28 volumes and original edition of the 5 supplement volumes and table of the famous Diderot-D'Alembert Encyclopedia. This work is a monument of major importance in the history of ideas. The Encyclopedists' primary aim was to promote the triumph of reason and modernity, at a time when, after centuries of obscurantism, we were witnessing a renaissance of intelligence. Diderot, who had been entrusted with the management of the Encyclopédie, devoted 20 years to this undertaking, for which he edited, synthesized and wrote over a thousand articles on subjects as diverse as philosophy, aesthetics, morality and the mechanical arts. In the early years, he was assisted by D'Alembert, who abandoned publishing in 1759 after the encyclopedic enterprise was condemned. From then on, D'Alembert concentrated solely on mathematics. Contributors to this prestigious undertaking included Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu. The set comprises 35 volumes. The 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of plates come from the forged edition, bearing the addresses of Paris and Neufchâtel. The 5 volumes of supplements, which appeared between 1776 and 1777, here at the Amsterdam address, and the 2 volumes of table dating from 1780, are original editions. This counterfeit was published by Panckoucke in Geneva in the 1770s. It is an almost identical copy of the original. As Adams points out: "The original edition is often confused with the Geneva forgery [...], and there are many copies of the Encyclopédie composed of volumes from both editions." The 17 volumes of text include two fold-out tables, one in volume 7 ("Tableau du manche de la guitare"), the other in volume 8 ("Tableau des mesures itinéraires anciennes..."). The 11 volumes of plates include 2,581 plates, most of which were drawn from the original brass plates, others having been retouched and some redone. The 5 supplement volumes comprise 4 folding tables, 206 plates, including the 3 devoted to hermaphrodites, and 10 maps. A fold-out plate entitled "Essai d'une distribution généalogique des Sciences et des Arts principaux" appears in the first table volume. Selon l'Explication détaillée du Système des Connoissances Humaines dans le Discours préliminaire des Editeurs de l'Encyclopédie, publiée par M. Diderot et M. d'Alembert". Illustrators include Louis-Jacques Goussier, Jacques-Raymond Lucotte, Pierre Soubeyran and François-Nicolas Martinet. The frontispiece, which was published separately and distributed to subscribers around 1772, is missing. The copy has been meticulously collated and all plates are present. We have considered double, triple and quadruple plates to be equivalent to 1 plate, unlike the publishers, for whom a double plate counted as 2 plates, a triple as 3 and a quadruple as 4. A pleasant copy in near-uniform bindings. Only volumes IX, X and XI of the plates, as well as the two table volumes published in 1780, are in a different binding, with slightly shorter margins. Fairly well preserved. Two hinges cracked but not seriously, some headpieces snagged and missing, traces of wear rubbing and a few epidermal marks, rare wormholes, corners dulled. Missing a large part of the title page of volumes 5 and 6. Scattered foxing.