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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
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Description
DIDEROT (Denis) and D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, or A Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Trades, by a Society of Men of Letters. Paris, Briasson et al.; Neuchâtel, Samuel Faulche & Cie, 1751–1772 [Geneva, Cramer, 1770–1776] (vols. 1–28); Amsterdam, M. M. Rey and Paris, Panckoucke et al., 1776–1780 (vols. 29–35). 35 folio volumes, marbled calfskin, triple blind-stamped rule, decorated spine, red title labels and lemon-coloured volume numbers, marbled edges (contemporary binding). A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF THOUGHT AND HUMAN 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 feature 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, the Encyclopédie was first published in Paris between 1751 and 1757, then clandestinely under the false address of Samuel Faulche in Neuchâtel in 1765. This copy is from the Geneva edition, comprising the first twenty-eight volumes (seventeen of text and eleven of plates), printed between 1771 and 1776 by Gabriel Cramer and Samuel de Tournes on behalf of the Parisian bookseller Panckoucke. The five supplementary volumes and the two volumes of tables are first editions. The illustrations comprise 2,795 intaglio-engraved plates (or 3,129, depending on how the publishers counted double, triple and quadruple plates), as well as seven 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; some were retouched by Bénard and others re-engraved for the Geneva edition. They comprise eleven atlas volumes and one supplementary volume. This copy is complete with the frontispiece by Cochin and the two portraits of Diderot and d’Alembert. A COMPLETE COPY 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 BEAUTIFUL COPY, IN EXCELLENT CONDITION AND STILL FRESH. Adams, Diderot, G5 (vols. 1–28) and G1 (vols. 29–35) – Tchemerzine, II, 926–927.
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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
Lot description modified on 10/13/2026 at 5:07 PM
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ALDE
See original version (French)
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