76. Diderot (Denis) and Jean le Rond d'Alembert, 1751 editors. Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, 35 vol. (a complete set comprising 17 vol. of text plus 4 vol. supplements, 12 vol. plates and 2 vol. of index), first edition, half-titles, lacking engraved frontispiece but with 3129 plates (as listed in each plate vol.), c.320 folding (most counted as two plates), Chamoiseur plate IV, Garnier VI & Hist. Nat. XCII all supplied in facsimile, folding tables, some light browning and marginal water-staining to a few text vol., plates generally clean but with some damp-staining to foot of final two plate vol., frontispiece to Chirurgie torn and repaired with sticky tape, one or two other marginal tears, contemporary calf, rather worn, rebacked, [PMM 200], folio, Paris, Neuchatel & Amsterdam, 1751-80; sold, as usual, not subject to return *** "A monument in the history of European thought; the acme of the age of reason…and a classic example of how not to arrange a work of reference." PMM
est. £10000 – £15000