Sakurako Inoue: The Joy of Reading the "Encyclopédie"

2025/03/12

For the past several years, I have been engaged in research on the sources of anonymous entries in the "Encyclopédie" (published 1751–1772; 17 volumes of text, 11 volumes of plates, with later supplements and indexes), which could be called the culmination of 18th-century French knowledge. I am particularly interested in the entries written by Jean-François de Saint-Lambert (1716–1803), an author and poet who enjoyed immense popularity in the 18th century but has been forgotten over time. Since Saint-Lambert was also a military aristocrat in the King's army, it is not difficult to imagine why he maintained anonymity when contributing to a major encyclopedia that included descriptions critical of royal and ecclesiastical authority.

The "Encyclopédie" was banned after the publication of Volume 7 due to the political instability of the time, following an attempted assassination of the King in 1757. However, with the support of readers, the remaining volumes of text were published clandestinely in 1765. What is interesting is that Saint-Lambert, who might have been expected to be cautious about cooperating with the publication project given his social standing, instead contributed several important entries related to politics, economics, and moral theory from Volume 8 onward. The connections between these entries are not immediately apparent upon a first reading. However, by comparing these entries with contemporary books that Saint-Lambert likely possessed, it becomes clear that several of his entries were influenced by Helvétius's "De l'esprit" (published 1758) and were attempts to defend it.

"De l'esprit" is a work that expounded a radical materialism, arguing that all human mental activity derives from physical sensations; it was condemned to be burned as a work associated with anti-religious movements. Nevertheless, it is also true that the book develops numerous arguments that could lead to the establishment of modern democracy. Examples include the claim that human intelligence is inherently equal and can be trained through public education, or the utilitarian idea that a happy fusion of individual and public interests is possible.

The moment when changes in people's mindsets emerge clearly in the anonymous entries of a major encyclopedia published more than twenty years before the outbreak of the French Revolution is a moment of modest joy for those who conduct bibliographic research.