Publication history of the Encyclopédie (1751–1772)

1. Paris publishers launch an Encyclopédie project

   Jan 1, 1745Labels: Paris publishers, Jean d'Alembert, Denis Diderot

   Paris publishers began planning a French encyclopedia project, originally tied to translating Ephraim Chambers’s Cyclopaedia but soon expanded into a much more ambitious work. They recruited Jean le Rond d’Alembert (1745) and Denis Diderot (1746), with Diderot taking overall direction in 1747. This publishing decision set up a long collaboration between printers, editors, and contributors—along with future clashes with censors.

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2. Diderot issues the Prospectus to attract subscribers

   Oct 1, 1750Labels: Denis Diderot, Prospectus

   Diderot published a Prospectus in October 1750 to explain the plan and sell subscriptions, which helped finance the costly printing. The Prospectus also framed the encyclopedia as more than a translation: it aimed to organize knowledge across sciences, arts, and trades. Subscription publishing mattered because it created a committed paying audience before all volumes existed.

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3. Volume 1 appears with the Discours préliminaire

   Jul 1, 1751Labels: Volume 1, Discours pr, Jean d'Alembert

   The first text volume of the Encyclopédie was published in mid-1751, opening the multi-volume series to subscribers. It included d’Alembert’s Discours préliminaire (preliminary discourse), which explained the project’s structure and intellectual goals. This volume established the Encyclopédie as a major Enlightenment print venture rather than a simple reference book.

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4. Volume 2 triggers a royal suppression order

   Feb 9, 1752Labels: Volume 2, Royal suppression, French authorities

   After the second volume appeared (early 1752), French authorities issued an order suppressing the first two volumes, citing threats to royal authority and religion. Publication was briefly halted, showing how quickly the project’s ideas could provoke official action. The episode also previewed later cycles of censorship and negotiation that shaped how (and what) the work could be printed.

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5. Text volumes continue under heightened censorship

   Jan 1, 1753Labels: Text volumes, Censors

   After the 1752 crisis, the Encyclopédie resumed work but under closer oversight from censors. This changed editorial practice: contributors and editors had to balance frank discussion with language that could pass review. The continuing releases kept the subscription enterprise alive while tensions between Enlightenment critique and official control remained unresolved.

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6. d’Alembert resigns from the editorship

   Jan 1, 1758Labels: Jean d'Alembert, Editorship

   In 1758, d’Alembert withdrew from his editorial role, leaving Diderot as the central driving editor for the remaining text volumes. His departure reflected the growing pressures around the project and its controversies. From this point, Diderot carried more responsibility for coordinating contributors and managing publication risks.

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7. Government revokes the publishing privilege

   Jan 1, 1759Labels: Publishing privilege, French government

   In 1759, after further controversy, the French government formally withdrew the Encyclopédie’s privilege (the legal permission to print and sell). This was a major turning point: without privilege, publishing the remaining text volumes openly became impossible. The project shifted toward strategies that kept production going while reducing visible political risk.

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8. Plates volumes begin appearing alongside the text

   Jan 1, 1762Labels: Plates volumes, Engraved plates

   Starting in the early 1760s, volumes of engraved illustration plates were issued, eventually totaling eleven plate volumes. The plates mattered for print culture because they spread practical knowledge visually—showing tools, machines, and craft processes—often with less controversial wording than philosophical articles. This emphasis helped keep the overall enterprise moving during years when text publication faced tighter scrutiny.

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9. Publisher edits proofs without Diderot’s consent

   Jan 1, 1764Labels: Andr Le, Proof edits

   By 1764, Diderot discovered that the publisher-printer André Le Breton (and staff) had quietly removed or altered controversial passages in proofs—hundreds of pages across multiple volumes. This episode shows how printing-house decisions could reshape published ideas, even after authors wrote them. It also reveals the fragile trust between editors and the commercial institutions that physically controlled the press.

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10. Seventeen text volumes completed (dated 1765)

    Jan 1, 1765Labels: Seventeen volumes, Text completion

    The main run of text—seventeen volumes—was published between 1751 and 1765, with the final text volumes bearing the date 1765. Completing the text was crucial because it stabilized the Encyclopédie as a finished reference system rather than an endlessly delayed promise to subscribers. The publication record also shows how a long, risky project could still reach completion through persistence and careful management of print channels.

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11. Final volumes of plates complete the first run

    Jan 1, 1772Labels: Plate completion, First edition

    The illustration plates continued after the text and were finished by 1772, bringing the first edition’s main set to 28 volumes (17 text + 11 plates). Ending the plates closed the long publication arc and confirmed the work’s practical, visual dimension alongside its arguments. By this point, the Encyclopédie stood as a landmark of Enlightenment-era print institutions—linking authorship, workshops, subscriptions, censorship, and large-scale production.

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12. Project’s legacy extends through later supplements and index

    Jan 1, 1780Labels: Supplements, Index 1780

    Although the core 1751–1772 publication run ended with the plates, later editors produced supplements (1776–1777) and an index (1780), expanding and organizing the original work. This postscript shows the Encyclopédie becoming an ongoing information infrastructure, not just a one-time series. It also underscores an outcome of its publication history: once the volumes existed in print, the project could be continued and reshaped beyond Diderot’s direct control.

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