Description
Book SynopsisAn analysis of recently discovered 18th-century encyclopedia, its genesis and content.
Trade Review'Meticulous and erudite study.'
Jacob Soll, University of Chicago PressTable of Contents1. IntroductionReasons for studying an unfinished encyclopedia
The discovery of the manuscripts, and earlier research
2. The Maurists’ manuscripts under the loupeThe history of the physical documents
Determining the number of writers
3. The history of a dictionary in the makingThe Congregation of Saint-Maur: organisation and erudition
Dom Pernety revisited
The dictionary project: picking up the trail
The first phase: translating Wolff’s lexicon (c.1743-1747)
Competition with the embryonic
Encyclopédie (1746)
Turning point: interruption and transformation (
c. 1747)
The second phase: continuation and abandonment (
c.1747-1754/1755)
4. The Maurists’ manuscripts comparedEstablishing limits: comparison to the
Dictionnaire de TrévouxCreating clusters of knowledge: comparison to the
EncyclopédieOther aspects of order: classification and cross-references
Identifying the Maurists’ sources
Mechanical arts and crafts
Natural history
Medical arts
Mathematical sciences
5. The Maurist enterprise and Enlightenment thoughtA monastic community in transformation
Responding to the tastes of the time
The middle ground that could have been
Conclusion: ‘To change the way people think’
Appendix 1: nomenclature
Appendix 2: working lists
Appendix 3: illustrations
Appendix 4: fields of knowledge
Appendix 5: transcriptions and translations
Bibliography
Index
