Great set of text and plates (16 leaves) from the first edition of this enormously influential work. The plates form a series of illustrations on the art of writing, including illustrations of pens, inkwells, proper posture, preparation of the quill, and the variations and type of letters. The Encyclopédie was published under the direction of Diderot with articles written by the most prominent philosophers of the time. These great minds collaborated in the goal of assembling and disseminating the fruits of accumulated knowledge and learning. Containing 72,000 articles written by more than 140 contributors, it was a massive reference work for the arts and sciences that served to propagate Enlightened ideas. Due to problems of censorship, the first edition was issued over a period of 21 years, in an original printing of approximately 4,000 copies. One title page and 15 illustrated plates.

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Condition: B

Damp stains throughout, mostly confined to blank margins; the title page being the most affected.