Lot of interesting copper engravings, all illustrating marine architecture and sailing techniques.
Pl. 18) This engraving illustrates an anchor, a pulley, a British warship and a plan of a sail with rigging.
Pl. 27) Two panels on this smaller (9x6") engraving. The bottom portion features a map of the Eastern Hemisphere and various illustrations on portraying the globe.
Pl. 107) Depicts a pulley system and a navigational quadrant breakdown.
Pl. 40) Illustrates the progressive angles and proportion of the hull.
Pl. 41) Two handsome ships are shown in dry-dock on the same sheet as a cutaway that reflects the shape of their hulls.
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 the ideas of the Enlightenment. Benard engraved these plates.

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Condition: A

All generally good with some marginal creases and damp stains on a couple of plates (Plates 27, 107 and 18). Images nice and bright.