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AGUTTES

83 - [DIDEROT, Denis, D'ALEMBERT]. Encyclopédie, or A Reasoned Di…
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Estimate €4,000 - €6,000
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Description
[DIDEROT, Denis, D'ALEMBERT]. Encyclopédie, or A Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Trades, by a Society of Men of Letters.  Paris, published by Briasson, David, Le Breton, Durand, 1762–1771, volumes 1–11 [&] Paris and Amsterdam, published by Panckoucke, Stoupe [&] Brunet; Rey, 1777 (for the Supplement).  12 volumes of plates, including one folio-sized supplement volume, in uniform contemporary binding of speckled fawn calfskin, with a spine bearing 6 raised bands, title labels in red morocco and fawn volume number labels (though missing on the majority of the volumes), richly decorated panels, gilt roulette on the edges, red edges (some caps worn down or missing, worn corners, bands split by a few centimetres, slight rubbing, restorations on a few covers; rare defects inside, mostly in the margins, except for volumes VIII and X which have faint water stains extending to the plates or the text; the pages are slightly and uniformly browned but the interior remains fresh). Bibliography: Adams, G1. En français dans le texte, no. 156. Description: Twelve volumes of plates, including the supplementary volume, from the first edition of Diderot and d’Alembert’s monumental Encyclopédie. A major work of the Age of Enlightenment, one of the most ambitious editorial and intellectual projects of the 18th century. A fine copy, in its strictly contemporary binding. Complete with all its plates except the frontispiece and three plates (Vol. 4: plate no. 7 from the ‘Fencing’ section; Vol. 6: plate no. 18 from the ‘Natural History, Animal Kingdom’ section and plate no. 8 from the ‘Mineralogy, Salts’ section). There are a total of 2,791 plates. (Detailed collation available on request).  It should be noted that the publisher counts each panel of double, triple and quadruple plates separately, thus arriving at a total of over 3,129 plates if one refers to the numbering given on the title pages.
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Auction time 07/03/2026 at 2:00 PM
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