The Business of Enlightenment: Publishing History of the ''Encyclopedie'', 1775-1800

639 Pages·1987·37.9 MB·English

by  Robert Darnton

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THE BUSINESS
OF ENLIGHTENMENT

THE BUSINESS
OF ENLIGHTENMENT
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A Publishing History
of the Encyclopedie
1775-1800
ROBERT DARNTON
The Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press
Cambridge,Massachusetts, andLondon,England
Copyright © 1979 by the Presidentand Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication data
Darnton, Robert.
The business of enlightenment.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Encyclopedie; ou Dictionnaire raisonne des sciences.
2. Encyclopedias and dictionaries, French. I. Title.
AE25.A6D37 034'.1 78-23826
ISBN 0-674-08785-2 (cloth)
ISBN 0-674-08786-X (paper)
To Susan

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wouldlike to express my gratitude to two research centers
that provided support and fellowship during the labor on this
book-the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sci
ences at Stanford, California, where I began writing the book
in 1973, and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study at
Wassenaar, The Netherlands, ,vhere I finished in 1977, having
laid it aside for other work in the interim. The research goes
back to 1965, when I first began to explore the archives of
the Societe typographique de Neuchatel and the Chambre
syndicale and Anisson-Duperron collections of the Biblio
theque nationale. Thanks to generous help from the Society
of Fellows of Harvard University in 1965-1968 and the
Guggenheim Foundationin1970-1971, these explorations have
continued over many years and have led to other publications
as well as this one. By spending a semester as a directeur
d'etudes associe in the VIe Section of the Ecole pratique des
hautes etudes (now the Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences
sociales) in 1971, I learned a great deal from the French
masters of histoire du livre. And I learned nlost of all from
Jacques Rychner, now director of the Bibliotheque de la ville
de Neuchatel, who explained the nlysteries of analytical bib
liography to me over countless cups of coffee in the shops
around the library in Neuchatel. He permitted me to pursue
the study of the Encyclopedie into the printing shop of the
STN, territorythat belongs to himandthatwillbecomeknown
in all its richness when he publishes his doctoral thesis. My
work in Neuchatel also benefited greatly from the encourage-
vii
Acknowledgments
ment of the late Charly Guyot, and I hope that this book may
help to perpetuate the memory of his kindness. Another
Neuchatelois also helped me enormously, although I never
met him. He was Jean Jeanpretre, a retired chemist, who de
voted the last years ofhis life to cataloguing the papers of the
STN. His labor and the cheerful cooperation of the staff of
the Bibliotheque de la ville made it a joy to work in the STN
archives.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the help of several
persons who aided in the preparation of this book. Caroline
Hannaway provided information on five obscure contributors
to the Encyclopedie methodique. Marie-Claude I-iapeyre of the
Ijaboratoire cartographique in the Ecole des hautes etudes en
sciences sociales prepared the maps, and Charlotte Carlson
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drew the graphs. Giles Barber read Chapter and Raymond
Birn read the entire 111a.l1U8cript "rith great care. Elizabeth
Suttelledited it. Susan Darnton prepared the index. Marianne
Perlak designed the book. American-Stratford Graphic Serv
ices, Inc., did the composition. And The Maple-Vail Book
Manufacturing Group did the printingandbinding.
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CONTENTS
I. Introduction: The Biographyof a Book 1
II. The Genesis of a Speculationin Publishing 38
TheNeuchatelReprintPlan / 39 FromtheReprinttothe
RevisedEdition / 44 ~Jo.seph Duplainand His Quarto
Encyclopedie / 57 Publishing, Politics, andPanckoucke / 66
FromtheRevisedEditiontothe Quarto / 76 TheParis Con-
ference of1777 / 82 TheBasisofa Bonne Affaire / 89
III. Juggling Editions 94
The',SecondEdition" / 94 TheOriginsofthe',Third
Edition" / 100 Imbroglios / 103 The Neuchatel
Imprint / 111 OpeningGambitsofthe FinalNegotiations / 116
DuelbyLettre Ostensible / 120 TheLast Turnofthe
Screw / 124 TheContract / 127
IV. Piracy and Trade War 131
Pirate Raids / 131 The OctavoPublishersandTheir
Encyclopedie / 136 TheOriginsofthe Quarto-OctavoWar / 139
TheFinalFailureofDiplomacy / 147 Open War / 154
Pourparlersfor Peace / 165 ADroledePaix / 171
ia;