Featured - Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers

The printing press enabled the wider spread of knowledge, but it was above all the eighteenth-century Enlightenment that transformed the development and transmission of knowledge by placing reason, empirical research and critical thinking at its centre, rather than tradition and authority. The French Revolution was a product of its time. Revolutionaries sought to break with autocratic regimes and championed the ideal of "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité." Change and progress became something to be actively pursued. Knowledge came to be understood as systematic and verifiable, leading to new scientific methods and classifications. It was also more widely disseminated through encyclopaedias, salons, academies and the first scientific journals. The Enlightenment laid the foundations for modern scientific thinking and the idea of knowledge as a public good.

Heritage highlight

The Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers by Diderot and D’Alembert is a collection of articles on the sciences, arts, and trades. Between 1751 and 1780, 28 volumes were published: 17 with printed text and 11 with printed illustrations.

The encyclopedia

The Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers is the defining symbol of the Enlightenment. During the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, the wealth of the Parisian middle class was growing. This (bourgeois) elite published an increasing number of works aimed at spreading and democratizing knowledge. As a result, the publication of encyclopaedias expanded immensely: between 1674 and 1750 there were thirty publications, which was more than the last two hundred years!

Revolutionary

The publication of the encyclopaedia didn’t happen without a fight. At the time, Louis XV (1710-1774), a devout Catholic, was on the throne. When the king believed it to be merely a collection of scientific articles, he gave his official approval. When it came to light that the authors were critical of both the monarchy and religion, he banned it. Where in prior works the focus was on kings, great battlefields, or saints, Diderot and others deliberately chose to centre the working class. In this period, that was nothing short of revolutionary.

Organizing knowledge

The authors decided to organize the subjects alphabetically. Simple enough, right? In practice, they found quite the opposite. All 28 volumes had to be planned in advance so that every subject would end up in the right place. Cross-references also had to be correct: a completed volume couldn’t refer to an article that never ended up being made. So, even though the printing press saved a lot of hours, an incredible amount of time was invested in producing this series all the same.

On display

You can now admire the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers in the Boekentoren, where four display cases provide a cross-section of the rich heritage collection.