James Smithson, whose bequest led to the establishment in
the mid-19
th century of the American institution that now bears his
name, famously stated in his will that funds should be used for the “increase
and diffusion of knowledge among men.” This seemingly vague request is rooted
in Enlightenment philosophy, the desire to create order and understanding in the
world. As Heather Ewing wrote in
The lost world of James Smithson, he was a member “of this distinct breed of English
Enlightenment gentleman: citizens of a new republic of science, dedicated to
the cause of ‘improvement.’”
The
Enlightenment era’s embrace of “the increase and diffusion of knowledge,” an
attitude that so inspired Smithson, is exemplified by the monumental
twenty-eight-volume publication of
Encyclopédie, ou, Dictionnaire raisonné (1751-1772). It is a work which the well-traveled
and learned Smithson undoubtedly knew well.
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The "System of Human Understanding" or Tree of Knowledge
The first volume of the Encyclopédie contains the famous "Preliminary Discourse" where it is argued that all human knowledge resides in three branches: Memory, Reason, Imagination. The rationalist, secular outlook made its creators subject to censorship, official condemnation and threats of imprisonment.
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The Encyclopédie, ou,
Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une Société de
Gens de Lettres (Encyclopedia, or,
Rational Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Trades, by a Society of Men of
Letters) is a reference work that was conceived with the belief that
everything in the world could be explained by rational investigation. Much as
the Smithsonian Institution does today, the range of subjects covered was
enormous: there were not only abstract disciplines, such as natural philosophy
and mathematics, but also practical sciences (mechanics, technology, medicine)
and the techniques of the arts, crafts and trades.
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| All subjects were presented with the belief of the practical usefulness of knowledge. This plate, "Emailleur, a la lamp perles fausses," details the work of women and children in the porcelain industry, enameling with heat and enamel painting. |
The large-format volumes, comprised of folio pages of text
printed in double columns and with the famous plates of illustrations, has a
long publishing history. It all began simply as a French translation of Ephraim
Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, or, Universal
dictionary of art and sciences, a two-volume work published in London in
1728. But the concept for the project grew with the prospectus stating that
there would be eight volumes of text and two of plates of illustrations. The
general editor was the novelist, playwright and literary and art critic, Denis
Diderot (1713-1784), with assistance from Jean Le Rond d’Alembert (1717-1783),
another philosophe, who was responsible
for mathematics and science, with a second mathematician, Abbé Jean Paul de Gua
de Malves, helping out.
The
Encyclopédie differed
from its seventeenth- and eighteenth-century predecessors by emphasizing the
arts and trades and by drawing on a wide variety of prominent contributors to
record the sum of human knowledge. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu and
Voltaire were some of those prominent writers involved. It was published during
a time when there was a great increase in literacy and the attending explosion
in the availability of printed materials.
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| Fan Makers: "Eventailliste, colage et preparation des papiers." Sheets of paper for the fans are shown drying from the rafters before being trimmed and then decorated. |
It was also a time when the guilds still closely protected
their skills and knowledge, with master craftsmen teaching only by the
apprenticeship system. The “
métiers” of the title was not incidental: Diderot,
son of a cutler, sought to reveal mechanical secrets in the hope that “our descendants,
by becoming better instructed, may as consequence by more virtuous and happy.”
Although the intricate details in the depictions of machines, tools, and
instruments were engraved by a group of highly skilled craftsmen, Diderot
himself gathered much of the information from hours of observation.
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| Details for fancy work, "Boutonnier Passementier," buttons and lace making for clothing trim. |
The 3,129 large illustrations are immediately recognizable
from countless reproductions. The calm scenes of small workshops of the
pre-Industrial-Revolution era show men, women and children employing techniques
that had previously been regarded as trade secrets. The clear diagrams and
drawings of artisanship and mechanics are absorbing in their detail. Even if
the view of industry is rather archaic, the volumes of plates may be the most
revolutionary elements of the work, providing visual examples of the
philosophe principle that rational
knowledge, in the portrayal of human activity, could be the basis for a new
world view where happiness is tied to progress and prosperity.
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| The Book Binder's Workshop: the steps and tools of bookbinding. A bindery for hand-bound books would operate much the same way today. |
This radical world view challenged both the church and
state, particularly in the earlier volumes addressing religion and politics.
Although royal permission for publication had been granted, in 1752 Louis XV’s
conseil d’etat threatened the editors
with imprisonment. But the
Encyclopédie continued
to be produced because the project had friends in high places, including the
royal mistress, Madame de Pompadour. Printing preceded slowly (volume three
appeared in 1753). In 1759, during a difficult and unsettled period in French
history, the
Encyclopédie was
included in an official list of condemned books and censorship forced a
temporary suspension of publication. Editors defied the authorities by
releasing the next ten volumes simultaneously in 1765 under that convenient and
common false imprint of the time--the Swiss city of Neuchâtel.
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The renown that the work reached, even as it was being printed, is seen in Quentin de la Tour's portrait of Madame de Pompadour, which places the royal mistress with a volume of the Encyclopédie. (The above is a 1755 pastel portrait on paper now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris)
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Then, as now, scandal and controversy were good for business
and the print run was expanded from 1,625 to 4,225. Also helping sales was a
1756 portrait of Madame de Pompadour, by Quentin de la Tour, shows her posing
with a volume of the encyclopedia. Reprint and pirated editions of the Encyclopédie appeared, as well as
foreign language imprints, even as Diderot’s originals were being released.
During the American Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson ordered a pirated
Italian edition from the Virginia Gazette.
In Geneva, a folio reprint was issued between 1771 and 1776. Several less
expensive versions, in the smaller quarto and octavo formats, added most to the
publishing competition before the close of the century.
However radical, the
Encyclopédie
was not a call for revolution in mid-eighteenth-century France. An encyclopedia
of this scale was expensive to produce and purchase. The intended market may
have been wider but still its audience was the wealthy, educated gentlemen who
would have been conversant in history, philosophy, literature, science,
technology, and the arts. Purchasers of the work included the nobility,
military officers, clergy, parliamentary officials, and law professionals.
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| The title page of volume one of the Dibner Library's copy, now digitized by the Biodiversity Heritage Library for the Smithsonian Libraries. | | | |
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| The art of milling grain: a mill on a stream and mill stones. |
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| "Relieur Doreur" Another step in bookbinding is gilding on the covers for titling and decoration. Note the finished products on the shelves. |
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| The Wonders of the Ancient World were represented in the Encyclopédie well before the work of the savants of the Institut
d’Égypte, a scientific organization that accompanied Napoleon's disastrous campaign in Egypt, 1798-1801. |
James Smithson very likely would
be pleased by recent actions with one of the Institution’s editions of the Encyclopédie. As a further aid to
scholarship, with open access to all, the copy in the Dibner Library has
recently been digitized and placed online by the Smithsonian Libraries. To
safe-guard the actual volumes for future use, this set of the Encyclopédie, ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des
métiers is now being
conserved by experts in the Smithsonian Libraries lab.
Julia Blakely
Special Collections Cataloger, Smithsonian Libraries
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| Before treatment: a volume of the Dibner Library's copy in the Conservation Lab. The plan is to use Iowa Paper Case paper that is toned to compliment the original mottled calf to re-back the well-used books. Photo by Katie Wagner, Book Conservator. | |
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| A subject to appeal to users of the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology. This collection has many titles covering the history of astronomy with particular strengths in mathematical astronomy and geodesy. |
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| Inspiration for a New York City fashion designer?: footwear from Antiquity. |
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| The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library also holds a set of the Encyclopédie. Photo by Katie Wagner, Book Conservator. |
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