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an old book shelf filled with lots of books on top of wooden shelvesan old book with a drawing of a man and a woman sitting on a bench
ALDE

154 - DIDEROT (Denis) and D’ALEMBERT.
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Estimate €20,000 - €30,000
Sale commission
Description
DIDEROT (Denis) and D’ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, or A Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Trades. Paris, Briasson, David, Le Breton, Durand; Neuchâtel [i.e. Paris], Samuel Faulche; Paris, Panckoucke, Stoupe, Brunet, and Amsterdam, M.-M. Rey, 1751–1780. 35 folio volumes, marbled calfskin, triple blind-stamped raised bands, decorated spine, red title labels and lemon-coloured volume numbers, marbled edges (contemporary binding). First edition of this seminal work in the history of human thought and knowledge. The Encyclopédie, published under the direction of Diderot and d’Alembert, brings together over 70,000 articles by some of the most influential minds of the 18th century, such as D’Holbach, Rousseau, Turgot, and some two hundred other contributors. A wealth of information and illustrations on technical, scientific and industrial subjects appear alongside the exposition of philosophical principles which, in 1752 and 1759, led to the work being condemned on two occasions; it could only be completed thanks to the protection of Malesherbes and Voyer d’Argenson, to whom the work is dedicated. A colossal publishing undertaking, it was first published in Paris between 1751 and 1757, then clandestinely under the false address of Faulche in Neuchâtel in 1765. In total, 4,255 copies were printed, according to Robert Darnton. The illustrations comprise a frontispiece by Cochin and 2,795 intaglio-engraved plates (or 3,129, depending on how the publishers counted double, triple and quadruple plates), as well as 8 fold-out or double-page plates. The plates, of remarkable craftsmanship, were drawn and engraved in intaglio by artists from the Rue Saint-Jacques and La Huchette. They comprise eleven atlas volumes published in Paris between 1762 and 1772 and one volume of the supplement published in Amsterdam. A complete copy of the so-called ‘Paris’ first edition, in uniform contemporary bindings, comprising the 17 volumes of text, the 11 volumes of plates and the 5 supplementary volumes (one of which contains plates); the two volumes of analytical tables, compiled by Pierre Mouchon, are in later bindings. A very fine copy, in an excellent state of preservation and with a fresh appearance. Adams, Diderot, G1 – Graesse, II, 389 – INED, no. 1416 – Picot-Rothschild, III, no. 2523 – Tchemerzine, II, 926–928 – In French in the text, no. 156 – PMM, no. 200 – Grolier/Horblit, no. 25b – R. Darnton, *L’Aventure de l’Encyclopédie*, Perrin, 1982.
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About the sale Fine antique books – A library in the Languedoc
Auction location
Auction time 10/20/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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