Diderot, (Denis) et d'Alembert, (Jean Le Rond), Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une société de gens de lettres. 32 vols. (16 text volumes, 4 supplement volumes, and 12 plate volumes). Paris, Briasson et al. 1751 - 1772 (text volumes 1 - 6 and plate volumes 1 - 11), Neuchâtel (Paris), Faulche, 1765 (text volumes 8 - 17), Amsterdam, Panckoucke et al. Rey, 1776 - 1777 (5 supplement volumes ). Folio. With 2795 copper plates (of which over 300 double-page or folding). Calf leather bindings of the period with rich spine gilt. Without the text volume 7 and the two index volumes published in 1780.original edition of the famous encyclopedia, which contains about 72000 articles. It is the most important work of the Enlightenment and is an outstanding source for society, culture and science of the 18th century. In the foreground are the three intellectual faculties of reason, memory and imagination. God and the Holy Scriptures were not given any space, which made the publication dangerous for church and state. In 1759, the seven volumes published up to that time were banned by the Paris Prosecutor General and placed on the Index by the Pope. After years of litigation, the remaining volumes appeared in Neuchâtel and Amsterdam. - With the bookplate of Schultheissen Christoph von Steiger (1651 - 1731). The family used it until the end of the 18th century.