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In his famous course on the history of literature, Jean-François de La Harpe drew a general picture of the siècle philosophique which had come to an end after the terrible events of the previous century. In doing so, he showed an awareness of the value of the not merely chronological transition from the first to the second half of the eighteenth century. "The mid-eighteenth century", he observed, "was marked by three great undertakings: the Esprit des lois, the Histoire naturelle, and the Encyclopédie, three memorable achievements published almost simultaneously, but very different in character, even though they all belonged to the esprit philosophique, the development and various effects of which I wish to describe here" (Lycée, ed. 1799–1805, XV, p. 71; on this work, see below, Chap.  3, Introd., b). Indeed, the publication of Montesquieu's Esprit des lois in 1748, Buffon's Histoire naturelle (from 1749 to 1788), and the first two volumes of the Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers in 1751–1752, represented a crucial turning point in the history of modern culture. This observation applies especially to the encyclopaedia, the cultural significance of which was carefully highlighted by La Harpe: "If there is something that appears to be particularly suited to foster in man the self-esteem proper to him, this is without doubt the simple plan of a work like the Encyclopédie", the aim of which was "to provide a substantial presentation of everything that the human mind had conceived, discovered, and created since the very first establishment of social groups' (Lycée, XV, p. 84).

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-9966-9_1

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