DIDEROT, Denis (1713-1784) and Jean D’ALEMBERT (1717-1783) - Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Parigi: Briasson, David, Le Breton, Durand, 1754-1757 [Volumi I-VII] e Neuchâtel [ovvero Parigi] l: S. Faulche & Compagnie, 1765 [volumi VIII-XVII]: 17 volumi di testo. Recueil de planches, sur les sciences, les arts libéraux, et les arts méchaniques. Parigi: Briasson, David, Le Breton, Durand, 1762-1767: primi 5 volumi [I-V] e Parigi [ma Ginevra: Gabriel Cramer for Charles Joseph Panckouke et al., 1771-1774]: successivi 6 volumi [VI-XI] Suite de Receuil de planches. Paris: Panckoucke, Stoupe, Brunet; Amsterdam: M.M. Rey, 1777 [XII] Supplément à l'Encyclopédie. Edita da Jean Baptiste René Robinet. Parigi: Panckoucke & Amsterdam: Marc-Michel Rey, 1776-1777: 4 volumi [I-IV]. First edition of the work that marked a profound revolution in the diffusion of culture and thought in Europe. It is one of the most splendid products of the Enlightenment, and one of the greatest landmarks of Western intellectual history. "A monument in the history of European thought; the pinnacle of the age of reason; a primary driving force in undermining the Ancien régime and announcing the French Revolution; a permanent source for all aspects of eighteenth-century civilization" (PMM). "The largest encyclopedia of science, which has had a widespread effect in establishing uniformity of terminology, concept and procedure in all fields of science and technology" (Grolier / Horblit). Most of the entries were written by Diderot and D'Alembert; other collaborators include Baron d'Holbach, Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Buffon, Marmontel, Condorcet, Necker, and Turgot. The first seven volumes of the Encyclopédie were published in Paris under a royal privilege; when this was withdrawn in 1759 the printing continued clandestinely and the last ten volumes were issued under the false imprint of Samuel Faulche, Neuchâtel. Grolier / Horblit 25b; John Lough, Essays on the Encyclopédie (London 1968); PMM 200; Schwab, Rex and Lough, Inventory of Diderot's Encyclopédie, I (1971), VII (1984) [Studies on Voltaire and the eighteenth century 80, 223]. 33 volumes, folio (392 x 251mm). Half-titles to the volumes where required, woodcut printer's device on titles, initials and woodcut headpices in text volumes, 2796 engraved plates as the collation in Schwab's that correspond to the 3168 called for in the index, but counted in a different way (lacking the "Avis aux relieurs" in the fifth volume of the Planches, some occasional stains, light browning, sporadic wormholes and some volumes with wider wormtracks, vol XVI of text with integrations in the lower margin, lacking the 2 volumes of Table analytique et raisonné des matieres edited by Pierre Mouchon and subsequently published in Paris: Panckoucke & Amsterdam: Marc-Michel Rey in 1780). Contemporary mottled calf, gilt spines, red edges and marbled endpapers (modern spine labels, some light wear to a few volumes, few rebacked or with some restorations, slight differences in the gilt tooling in some of the vols). For more information, condition reports and a detailed collation of each volume, please contact the department. Provenance: Schmitt (private blindstamped bookplate in the supplement volumes). (33) The lot is accompanied by a export license.

Estimate € 20,000 - 30,000