The
Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières ("Methodical encyclopedia by order of subject matter") is a 206-volume
encyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a comprehensive written compendium that holds information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. Encyclopedias are divided into articles with one article on each subject covered...
that was published between 1782 and 1832 by the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
publisher Charles Joseph Panckoucke, and his daughter, Thérèse-Charlotte Agasse. It was a revised and expanded version, arranged by subject matter, of the originally alphabetically-arranged
EncyclopédieEncyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements and revisions in 1772, 1777 and 1780 and numerous foreign editions and later derivatives.Its introduction, the Preliminary...
, compiled by
Denis DiderotDenis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic and writer. He was a prominent figure during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
. The full title was
L'Encyclopédie méthodique ou par ordre de matières par une société de gens de lettres, de savants et d'artistes; précédée d'un Vocabulaire universel, servant de Table pour tout l'Ouvrage, ornée des Portraits de MM. Diderot et d'Alembert, premiers Éditeurs de l'Encyclopédie.
Developments
Two sets of Diderot's
Encyclopédie, and its supplements, were cut up into articles. Each subject category was entrusted to an exclusive
editorEditing is the process of selecting and preparing language, images, sound, video, or film through processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications in various media...
, whose job was to collect all articles relating to his subject, and exclude those belonging to others. Great care was to be taken of those articles that were of a doubtful nature, which were not to be omitted. For certain topics, such as air, which belonged equally to
chemistryChemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions...
,
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
and
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
), the methodical arrangement had the unexpected effect of breaking up a single article into several parts. Each volume was to have its own introduction, a table of contents, and a history of the
Encyclopédie. The whole work was to be linked together by a
Vocabulaire Universel (Vol. 1 - 4), with references to all locations where each word appears.
The
prospectusProspectus may refer to:* Prospectus * Prospectus...
, issued early in 1782, proposed three editions, each with seven volumes of 250 to 300 plates:
- 84 volumes;
- 43 volumes, with 3 columns per page; and
- 53 volumes of about 100 sheets, with 2 columns per page.
Subscription was priced at:
- 672 livre
Livré-la-Touche is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France. Prior to October 6, 2008, it was known as Livré....
s from the March 15 to July 1782
- 751 livres from August 1782 to March 1783; and
- 888 livres after April 1783.
The
livraisons (home-deliveries) was to be in two volumes each, the first (Jurisprudence, Vol. 1., Literature, Vol. 1,) to appear in July 1782, and the whole to be finished by 1787. The number of subscribers, 4072, was so great that the subscription list of 672 livres was closed on April 30. Twenty-five printing offices were employed, and in November 1782, the first
livraison (Jurisprudence, Vol. 1, and half volume each, of
arts et métiers and
histoire naturelle) was issued.
A
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
prospectus was sent out, and obtained 330 Spanish subscribers, with the inquisitor-general at their head. The complaints of the subscribers and his own heavy advances of over 150,000 livres, induced Panckoucke, in November 1788, to appeal to the authors to finish the work. Those who were behind made new contracts, giving their word of honor to put their parts to press by 1788, so that Panckoucke hoped to finish the whole, including the vocabulary (4 or 5 vols.) by 1792.
Entire topics, such as
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
,
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or inventions.The American Engineers' Council...
, hunting, police, and games, had been overlooked in the prospectus. A new division was made in 44 parts, to contain 51 dictionaries, and about 124 volumes. Permission was obtained on February 27, 1789, to receive subscriptions for the separate dictionaries. Two thousand subscribers were lost in the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
.
The 50th
livraison appeared on July 23, 1792, when all the dictionaries eventually published had been begun, except for seven:
jeux familiers and
mathmatiques,
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
,
art oratoire,
physical geographyPhysical geography is one of the three major subfields of geography, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography...
,
chasses and
pèches. 18 volumes were finished:
mathématics, games,
surgerySurgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason...
, ancient and modern
geographyGeography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
,
historyHistory is the study of the human past, with special attention to the written record. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns...
,
theologyThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
,
logicLogic, from the Greek λογική is the art and science of reasoning. More specifically, it is defined by the Penguin Encyclopedia to be "The formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning". As a discipline, logic dates back to Aristotle, who established its...
,
grammarIn linguistics, grammar is the set of logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology,...
,
jurisprudenceJurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal philosophers, hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions. Modern jurisprudence began in the 18th century and was focused on the first...
, finance,
political economyPolitical economy originally was the term for studying production, buying and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
,
commerceCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
, marine,
arts militaires,
arts acadmiques,
arts et métiers, and
encyclopediana. Of the three parts of
Assemble Nationale:
- the History of the Revolution;
- Debates; and
- Laws and Decrees;
only Vol. 2, ie. "Debates", appeared in 1792, with 804 pages (Absens to Aurillac). Supplements were added to
military artMilitary art or war art is art that depicts war and military subjects. The works cover a broad range of subject matter including first hand or historical documentation of battles, memorial art, war protest, and propaganda art.. Military art as an art historical genre is defined by subject matter...
in 1797, and to history in 1807, but not to any of the other 16, though required by most subscribers long before 1832.
The publication was continued by Henri Agasse, Panckoucke's son-in-law, from 1794 to 1813, and then by his widow, Mme Agasse, until 1832, when it was completed in 102 livraisons or 337 parts, forming 166 1/2 vols. of text, and 51 parts, containing 6,439 plates. The number of pages totalled 124,210 pages, of which 5,458 pages were plates. To save expense, the plates belonging to architecture were not published.
PharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences, and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of medication....
(separated from chemistry), minerals, education,
ponts et chausses were not published as had been announced.
When "completed", the encyclopedia suffered one great weakness. Many dictionaries have a classed index of articles; that of
conomie politique, being a very excellent example, giving the contents of each article, so that any passage can be found easily.
As the
Vocabulaire Universel, the key and index to the entire work, was not published, it was difficult to carry out any research or to find all the articles on any particular subject. The original parts had often been subdivided, and had been so added on to by other dictionaries, supplements and appendices, such that, without going into great detail, an exact account could not be given of the work, which contained 88 alphabets, 83 indexes, 166 introductions, discourses, prefaces, etc.
Probably no more an unmanageable body of dictionaries has ever been published, except
Jacques Paul MigneJacques Paul Migne was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely-distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a universal library for the Catholic priesthood.He was born at Saint-Flour, Cantal and studied...
's
Encyclopédie théologique, Paris, 1844-1875, with 168 volumes, 101 dictionaries, and 119,059 pages.
Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières occupied a thousand workers in production, and 2,250 contributors.
Translations
Ten volumes of a Spanish translation with a volume of plates were published at
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
in 1806:
- Historia natural, Vol. 1-2
- Grammatica, Vol. 1
- Arte militar, Vol. 1-2
- Geografia, Vol. 1-3
- Fabricas, Vol. 1-2
- Pplates, Vol. 1
A French edition was printed at
PaduaPadua is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice , in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area, having a population of c...
, with the plates, very carefully engraved.
Details of encyclopedia format
The division adopted was:
01. MathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
02. PhysicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
03. MedicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
04. AnatomyAnatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy and plant anatomy...
and PhysiologyPhysiology is the science of the functioning of living systems. It is a subcategory of biology...
05. SurgerySurgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason...
06. ChemistryChemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions...
, metallurgyMetallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
and pharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences, and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of medication....
07. AgricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
08. Natural history of animalsZoology, also spelled zoölogy, is the branch of biology that focuses on the structure, function, behavior, and evolution of animals. The zoologist's pronunciation of "zoology" is , though a common spelling pronunciation is .-Systems of classification:...
, in six parts
09. BotanyBotany, plant science, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of biology and is the scientific study of plant life and development...
10. MineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
s
11. Physical geographyPhysical geography is one of the three major subfields of geography, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography...
12. Ancient and modern geographyGeography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
13. AntiquitiesClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
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14. HistoryHistory is the study of the human past, with special attention to the written record. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns...
15. TheologyThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
16. PhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
17. MetaphysicsMetaphysics investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. Cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics. It is concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world...
, logicLogic, from the Greek λογική is the art and science of reasoning. More specifically, it is defined by the Penguin Encyclopedia to be "The formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning". As a discipline, logic dates back to Aristotle, who established its...
and moralityMorality has three principal meanings.In its first, descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct or belief concerning matters of what is moral or immoral...
18. GrammarIn linguistics, grammar is the set of logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology,...
and literatureLiterature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" , and therefore the academic study of literature is known as Letters...
19. LawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
20. FinanceFinance is the science of funds management. The general areas of finance are business finance, personal finance, and public finance. Finance includes saving money and often includes lending money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of time, money and risk and how they are interrelated...
21. Political economyPolitical economy originally was the term for studying production, buying and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
22. CommerceCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
23. Marine
24. Art militaireA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
25. Beaux artsFine art describes any art form developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than utility. This type of art is often expressed in the production of art objects using visual and performing art forms, including painting, sculpture, music, dance, theatre, architecture, photography and...
26. Arts et métiers"A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain"....
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The largest dictionaries were:
- Zoology: 13,645 pages, 1206 plates (7 vols.);
- Botany: 12,002 pages, 1,000 plates (34 only of cryptogamic plants);
- Medicine: 10,330 pages (13 vols.);
- Geography: 9,090 pages, 193 maps and plates (3 vols. and 2 atlases);
- Jurisprudence (with police and municipalities): 7,607 pages (10 vols.); and
- Anatomy (not a dictionary but a series of systematic treatises): 2,866 pages (4 vols.).
Partial list of contributors
- Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville
Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville was a French entomologist, born on November 11, 1775 in Paris. He died on March 27 , 1858 in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre...
(insects)
- Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre
Abbé Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre was a French naturalist who contributed sections on cetaceans, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects to the Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique...
(cetaceans, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects)
- Jean-Nicolas Démeunier
Jean-Nicolas Démeunier was a French author and politician.He was Royal Censor and secretary to "Monsieur", the Comte de Provence , who was the brother of King Louis XVI....
(U.S.A)
- Antoine-François Fourcroy
Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy , was a French chemist and a contemporary of Antoine Lavoisier. Fourcroy collaborated with Lavoisier, Guyton de Morveau, and Claude Berthollet on the , a work that helped standardize chemical nomenclature.-Life and work:Fourcroy was born at Paris, the son of an...
(insects)
- Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville
Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville was a French entomologist.Guérin-Méneville was the author of the illustrated work Iconographie du Règne Animal de G. Cuvier 1829–1844, a complement to the work of Georges Cuvier and Pierre André Latreille, which lacked illustrations...
(insects)
- Jean Baptiste Godart
Jean-Baptiste Godart was a French entomologist.Born at Origny, Godart became impassioned by butterflies in his youth. He was charged by Pierre André Latreille with writing the article on these insects in the Encyclopédie méthodique...
(insects)
- Christian Hee Hwass
Christian Hee Hwass was a Danish malacologist who is remembered for his work in conchology. Although born in Denmark, Hwass did most of his important work in France. He moved to Paris in 1780, and later Auteuil...
(molluscs)
- Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States , the principal author of the Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States...
(U.S.A)
- Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse
Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse or La Peirouse Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse or La Peirouse Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse or La Peirouse (20 October 1744, Toulouse - 18 October 1818, château de Lapeyrouse (Haute-Garonne) was a French naturalist.In 1782 he was elected a foreign...
(birds)
- Pierre André Latreille
Pierre André Latreille was a French entomologist. His works describing insects assigned many of the insect taxa still in use today....
(invertebrates, insects)
- Amédée Louis Michel Lepeletier (insects)
- Antoine Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy (architecture)
- Jacques de Sève
Jacques de Sève was a French illustrator.He was commissioned by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon to provide the quadruped illustrations for Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière and then Buffon's Receuil de Vingtquatre Plantes et Fleurs .He also illustrated work by Duhamel...
artwork
- Jacques-André Naigeon
Jacques-André Naigeon was a French artist, atheist philosopher, editor and man of letters best known for his contributions to the Encyclopédie and for reworking Baron d'Holbach's and Diderot's manuscripts....
External links
Harald Fischer Verlag description
Cambridge University Library's Featured Book page