RARE 1762 DIDEROT ILLUSTRATED PLATE VOL. 269 FOLIO PLTS ARCHITECTURE, GARDEN LANDSCAPE, ANATOMY, FIREWORKS Start Price USD 6,200.00 Current Price USD 6,200.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, September 03, 2008 End Time Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Location Paris See more about 'RARE 1762 DIDEROT ILLUSTRATED PLATE VOL. 269 FOLIO PLTS' Description Vasari Vasari's Online Auctions offer Rare Illustrated Color Plate Books and Antique Prints dating from the early fifteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century. Please click here to learn more about us   THIS AUCTION INCLUDES: A TOTAL OF 269 PLATES IN FOLIO BY FAMOUS ARTISTS, ALL ORIGINAL, DATING FROM 1762 INCLUDING THE VALUABLE SECTIONS ON ANATOMY, ARCHITECTURE, GARDEN LANDSCAPE  AND FIREWORKS. Scroll Down for more pictures. The complete encyclopedia contains over 22000 pp. and 3129 engraved plates in in total 35 vols.  AVAILABLE FOR $118,000. AT THE REPUTABLE BOOK SELLER IN THE NETHERLANDS. ****PLEASE NOTE: THE PLATES OF ARCHITECTURE AND GARDEN DESIGN ONLY ARE VALUED AT $500-$1000 EACH.**** Information: DIDEROT, Denis & Jean Le Rond D' ALEMBERT (Eds.). Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des artes et des métiers par une société des gens de lettres, mis en ordre par Diderot; et quant à partie mathématique, par D'Alembert. [1762]. Recueil de planches sur les Sciences, Les Arts Liberaux et Les Arts Mechaniques Avec Leur Explications. Paris, 1762. First Edition. 1 volume. Tall Folio, contemporary speckled calf, gilt lettering to spine. Condition Very Fine, some minor defects, please review images below. 269 copper engraved plates. Sections included in this volume are : 1- Agriculture, including engravings displaying Windmills, the Making of Tobacco, Cotton, Vine Cultivation, Sugar, Garden Landscapes, Fountains. 2- Needle Making 3- Anatomy 4- Antiquities, including engravings displaying the Coliseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Arch of Traianus, Caracal Circus, etc. 5- Architecture 6- Masonry 7- Silver Plating 8- Armory Making 9- Harquebus making 10- Military Art 11- Fireworks Guarantee of Authenticity: All of the prints and the books we sell are ORIGINALS. We guarantee all rare books, antiquarian prints and art works to be original and authentic. We stand behind our inventory and want to make sure that all of our clients are completely satisfied with their purchases. Historical Background:  First edition of without any doubt the finest, most extensive and famous encyclopedical work on the sciences, arts and professions of the 18th century: a revolutionary monument in the history of European thought, edited by Denis Diderot (1713-1784) and Jean D'Alembert (1717-1783). The importance of the encyclopedia is to be found in the contributions of over 200 important philosophers, writers, scientists and jurists of the era of Enlightenment, like Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Buffon, Marmontel, Necker, Condorcet, Turgot and others. The greater part of the 71818 entries however, was written by the editors Diderot and Alembert, followed by Baron Holbach (who contributed about 400 articles). Jean D'Alembert was responsible for the articles on mathematics and due to his extended social network he succeeded to interest many important scientist and scholars to contribute to the work. He also wrote the ''Discours préliminaire'', the general introduction, in which he exposes the ideals of the Enlightenment. These are also illustrated in the folding engraved plate in the first Table (Index) volume, where a tree of knowledge is depicted, illustrating that all the arts and sciences grow out of the three mental faculties. Philosophy forms the trunk of the tree, while theology occupies only a branch. Another graphical underlining of the Enlightenment ideals is to be seen in the allegorical frontispiece (after a drawing by Charles Nicholas Cochin), which depicts a figure personifying Truth, whose veil is torn of by two other figures personifying Reason and Philosophy. Moreover, the encyclopedia is famous for its fine and accurate illustrations, and is still a primary source for the study of 18th century civilization. It contains, according to the number of plates given on the title-pages, 3129 plates, because double, triple or quadruple folding plates are counted as 2, 3, or 4, adding up to the amount of 2796 plates. The 12 plate volumes contain numerous fine illustrations of 18th century professions and applied arts, with detailed depictions of the workshops and tools, thus functioning as a vast compendium of the technologies of the period. Many scientific fields are represented:  physics, chemistry, mathematics and astronomy, which instruments and inventions are meticulously illustrated. Also, in the section of mineralogy, there is a fine plate on the eruption of the Vesuvius. Furthermore there is a large section on fencing, illustrated with many fencing positions, a section on mining, architecture, jeu de paume (tennis), manufacturing of silk, porcelain, furniture, iron work, musical instruments, clothing, etc. The extensive section on surgery and medicine includes the plates with hermaphrodites. The publication history of this immense encyclopedia can be divided in several stages. The 'Encyclopédie' was originally meant to be a French translation of Ephraïm Chambers' 'Cyclopaedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences' (1728). The Paris publisher Andre Le Breton commissioned John Mills to translate Ephraïm Chambers' Cyclopaedia in French. However, Le Breton was swindled. He subsequently hired Jean Paul de Gua de Malves (1713 -1785), a French mathematician, who hired other editors: Diderot and D'Alembert, to continue his Encyclopedical project. The first seven volumes were published at Paris under a royal privilege. Every volume appearing on the market caused a sensation. The privilege was withdrawn in 1759. This was due to the editors' and authors' intentions to destroy superstitions and setting reason and thought above religion, advocating religious tolerance and therefore undermining the Ancien Regime. So the publication of the work was prohibited in France and the entire work was banned by royal decree, and the project was officially closed down after the first seven volumes in 1759. However, printing was continued clandestinely, the last ten volumes (VIII-XVII) were issued under the false imprint of Samuel Faulche at Neuchatel. The volumes with the plates have a different history, since they were not considered being subversive; they were published in Paris between 1762-1772. The supplement volumes were published in one edition only, but in two issues, one with a Paris imprint, the other with an Amsterdam imprint, edited by Jean Baptiste René Robinet (1735-1820). The supplementary volume of plates has the imprint 'Amsterdam and Paris'. The two-volume index was published in 1780 and edited by Pierre Mouchon (1733-1797).Later the work was reprinted, in whole or in part, in several editions that were designed to look like the original, even imitating the original imprints. 'The Encyclopédie of Diderot and D' Alembert remained, and remains, unique'' (Printing and the Mind of Man). Nice volume, on large paper in uniform binding.  Dibner 85; Brunet 31851; DSB IV, 86-87; PMM 200; Norman 637; Grolier/ Horblit 25b; En Français dans le texte 156. Payment Options:  PayPal and Bank Wire Transfers. Payment is required within 72 hours of the auction's close. You will receive an invoice within 24 hours of the auction's close. Shipping: International shipping is a flat rate of $75.00 USD. International orders are sent via International Priority Airmail unless requested otherwise. Depending on the shipping destination and the weight of the package, a surcharge may apply. All print orders can be combined. Please indicate if you wish to bid on additional items. The ETA for shipping via international priority air mail to the U.S.A. is approx. 7-10 days. FedEx overnight on request, pre-shipping quotes available. Insurance: Insurance is available upon request. IMPORTANT BEFORE BIDDING: All bidders with 0 feedback, will be removed. Bidders with feedback under 10 must e-mail before bidding. Serious bidders only please, failure to complete transaction will be reported to eBay and negative feedback will be left. Questions: If you have additional question, please email us at: questions@vasaribooks.com                       Your browser does not support JavaScript. To view this page, enable JavaScript if it is disabled or upgrade your browser. Click Here. Double your traffic. Get Vendio Gallery - Now FREE! Place a Bid!