Encyclopédie Méthodique
The Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières (lit. 'Methodical Encyclopedia by Order of Subject Matter') was published between 1782 and 1832 by the
Development
Two sets of Diderot's Encyclopédie and its supplements were cut up into articles.
The prospectus, issued early in 1782, proposed three editions, each with seven volumes of 250 to 300 plates:[1]
- 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 livres 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) were 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 for the price 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.[1][2]
A Spanish prospectus was sent out and obtained 330 Spanish subscribers, with the inquisitor-general at their head.[1]
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 Vocabulaire universel (4 or 5 vols.) by 1792.[1]
Entire topics such as architecture, engineering, 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 separate dictionaries. Two thousand subscribers were lost in the French Revolution.[1]
The 50th livraison appeared on July 23, 1792, by which time all the dictionaries eventually published had been begun except for seven: Jeux familiers and mathématiques,
- the History of the Revolution;
- Debates; and
- Laws and Decrees;
only volume 2, i.e. "Debates", appeared in 1792, with 804 pages (Absens to Aurillac). Supplements were added to military art in 1797, and to history in 1807, but not to any of the other 16, despite many changes in knowledge by 1832.[1]
The publication was continued by Henri Agasse, Panckoucke's son-in-law, from 1794 to 1813, and then by the latter's widow, Mme Agasse, until 1832, when it was completed in 102 livraisons or 337 parts, forming roughly 166½ volumes of text (depending on how the parts were bound) as well as 51 illustrated parts containing 6,439 plates. The number of pages totalled 124,210 pages, of which 5,458 pages were plates. To save money, the plates belonging to architecture were not published. Pharmacy (separated from chemistry), minerals, education, Ponts et chausses were not published as had been announced.[1]
Many dictionaries have a classed index of articles. The one in Oeconomie politique is an excellent example, giving the contents of each article, so that any passage can be found easily.[1]
When "completed," the encyclopedia suffered at least one great weakness. 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 onto by other dictionaries, supplements, and appendices that an exact account could not be given of the work, which contained 88 alphabets, 83 indexes, 166 introductions, discourses, prefaces, etc. Overall, probably no more an unmanageable body of dictionaries has ever been published, except Jacques Paul Migne's Encyclopédie théologique, Paris, 1844–1875, with 168 volumes, 101 dictionaries, and 119,059 pages.[1]
The 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 Madrid in 1806:[1]
- Historia natural, Vol. 1-2
- Grammatica, Vol. 1
- Arte militar, Vol. 1-2
- Geografia, Vol. 1-3
- Fabricas, Vol. 1-2
- Plates, Vol. 1
A French edition was printed at Padua, with the plates, very carefully engraved.[1]
Details of encyclopedia format
The division adopted was:
01. Mathematics |
14. History Marine 24. Art militaire 25. Fine arts 26. Arts and crafts |
The largest dictionaries were:[1]
- 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 (insects)
- Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre (cetaceans, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects)
- Jean-Nicolas Démeunier (U.S.A)
- Antoine-François Fourcroy(insects)
- Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville (insects)
- Jean Baptiste Godart(insects)
- Christian Hee Hwass (molluscs)
- Thomas Jefferson (U.S.A)
- Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (botany)
- Philippe Petit-Radel (surgery)
- Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse (birds)
- Guillaume-Antoine Olivier (insects)
- Pierre André Latreille (invertebrates, insects)
- Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier, comte de Saint-Fargeau (insects)
- Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau (chemistry)
- Antoine Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy(architecture)
- Jean-Marie Roland, vicomte de la Platière(commerce)
- Jacques de Sève artwork
- Jacques-André Naigeon
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Encyclopaedia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 381. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
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