39 volumes, 4to (254 x 184 mm), comprising 36 text and 3 plate volumes. Half-titles, numerous folding tables, and 441 engraved plates (lacking frontispiece in vol. II, spotting throughout, toning). 19th century quarter calf, spines in 6 compartments and 5 raised bands (light rubbing to extremities).

FIRST QUARTO EDITION OF DIDEROT'S LANDMARK WORK.

The Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers was first published in France from 1751-1772, comprising 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of plates for a total of 71,818 articles and 2,784 illustrations. Due to its sometimes radical contents, in particular those articles relating to surgery and human anatomy, the book was banned by French royal edict in 1752, which accused its authors of "destroying royal authority, fomenting a spirit of independence and revolt, and...laying the groundwork for error, for the corruption of morals, and for irreligion and atheism." Because of this, later editions of the work (including the present copy) were printed in Switzerland to avoid censorship by the French government. Among its contributors were Diderot, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Louis de Jaucourt, who is believed to have contributed approximately a quarter of the finished work. The present edition was printed with three supplementary plate volumes in order to keep costs low, though the cost of the full set ensured that it would remain out of reach of everyone but the upper middle and upper classes.

Upon the outbreak of the French Revolution, it became popular to associate Diderot's work with political revolt, with political enemies of Thomas Jefferson famously reciting passages from the Encyclopédie whenever discussing events in France. In 1911, the editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica wrote, "No encyclopaedia perhaps has been of such political importance, or has occupied so conspicuous a place in the civil and literary history of its century. It sought not only to give information, but to guide opinion."

[With]: D'ALEMBERT, Jean le Rond (1717-1783), et al. Encyclopedie Methodique. Paris: Chez Pancouke, 1784-1792. 3 volumes, 4to (267 x 203 mm). Numerous illustrations (spotting throughout.) 20th century quarter calf.