LEXIKA - Diderot, [Denis] - D'Alembert, [Jean Le Rond]. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des art et des métiers.... 17 text volumes, 4 supplement volumes, 11 (in 12) plate volumes in a total of 33 volumes. With 1 engraved frontispiece (together with the rare explanatory leaf of Diderot), 1 folded and engraved family tree, 2786 (recte: 3129), of which 253 double-leaf and 19 multiple folded) copper plates, and 7 folded tables. Paris, Briasson and others, 1751-1772 (text vols. 1-7 and plate vols. 1-10); Neufchâstel (i.e. Paris), Faulche, 1765 (text vols. 8-17); Amsterdam, Panckoucke and Rey, 1776-1777 (supplements and supplement plate volume). Folio. Marbled gilt calf with outer edges gilt and rich spine gilt and 2 back labels (covers partly rubbed and scratched, restored with gel). Adams, Diderot I, G1 - Tchemerzine IV, 434-435 - PMM 200 - Brunet II, 700 - Graesse II, 389 - Ebert 6709. - Original edition with all plate and supplement volumes, without the index volumes, complete with all plates ! - The Encyclopédie, edited by Diderot and D'Alembert, who themselves were responsible for a large part of the altogether about 72000 articles, is regarded as the most important work of the Enlightenment. Today it is one of the most outstanding sources for the society, culture and science of the 18th century. "A monument in the history of European thought; the culmination of the age of reason" (PMM). Diderot also supervised most of the specially produced engravings. The detailed, mostly large-format images illustrate crafts, technology and trade in the 18th century and were produced especially for this encyclopaedia. The copperplate engraving with the family tree of knowledge shows how all arts and sciences sprout from the three mental faculties: reason, memory and imagination. God and the Holy Scriptures had no place here, which made the enterprise so dangerous for church and state: "Philosophy forms [on the engraving] the trunk of the tree, while theology is a distant branch near the black magic. Diderot and d'Alembert had dethroned the old queen of the sciences. They had reordered the knowable world and reoriented man in it, while pushing God out." (Darnton, Shiny Business, p. 16). Diderot and D'Alembert intended their work not only to bring together and collate all the knowledge of their time, but also to influence and change people's thinking in the spirit of the Enlightenment. They largely dispensed with historical and biographical articles, but placed all the more emphasis on the treatment of the applied mechanical arts, which they accorded equal status with art and science. Of the more than 4,000 copies printed, about half found a buyer outside France, although the court, the church, and the judges were outraged. In 1759, the seven volumes published up to that time were banned by the Parisian Attorney General and placed on the index by the Pope. After years of litigation, the remaining volumes were published in Neufchâstel (Paris) and Amsterdam. - The divergence with regard to the number of plates mentioned on the title page, the bookbinder's advice, the table of contents and the bibliographical literature results from the different counting method of the multiple plates. Together there are actually 3129 (single) plates, with double, triple and quadruple plates counted as 2, 3 or 4 (single) plates. - Text volume 4 initially worm-marked with minimal loss of letters, text volume 8 somewhat water-marked and wavy in upper margin, text volume 14 first 4 quires with nail marks and paper loss in white margin, supplementary plate volume untrimmed, some minor waviness and dusting in margins. - Overall very nice, complete copy in good to splendid contemporary bindings. - Provenance: Swiss private property.