1720 Dictionaire Historique et Critique, Pierre Bayle. Early Encyclopedia

Description: 1720 Dictionaire Historique et Critique, Pierre Bayle. Early Encyclopedia Dictionaire Historique et Critique by Pierre Bayle Troisieme edition, Revue, corrigée, Et augmentée Par L'Auteur TOME I A - C Rotterdam, Chez Michel Bohm, 1720. 3rd edition. Hardcover. Full leather, original leather covered boards with later leather spine and spine label. Small thick folio (16 x 10.5 inches), marbled pastedowns half-title, title page, XX, 942 pages. In French. With an illustrated title page and vignette on the first page of the preface. The first volume of the four volume work. A historical and critical dictionary often noted as a forerunner of the Encyclopedists. It was published in Holland, the country to which the author Bayle had escaped to avoid perescution for his protestant faith. Pierre Bayle (French: [bɛl]; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. He is best known for his Historical and Critical Dictionary, whose publication began in 1697. A Huguenot, Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic in 1681 because of religious persecution in France. Bayle was a notable advocate of religious toleration and his work had a significant influence on the subsequent growth and development of the European Age of Enlightenment. He is regarded as a forerunner of the Encyclopédistes. The massive Dictionnaire Historique et Critique (Historical and Critical Dictionary), effectively constituted one of the first encyclopaedias (before the term had come into wide circulation) of ideas and their originators. In the Dictionary, Bayle expressed his view that much that was considered to be "truth" was actually just opinion, and that gullibility and stubbornness were prevalent. The Dictionary would remain an important scholarly work for several generations after its publication. Pierre Bayle was a Huguenot, i.e., a French Protestant, who spent almost the whole of his productive life as a refugee in Holland. His life was devoted entirely to scholarship, and his erudition was second to none in his, or perhaps any, period. Although much of what he wrote was embedded in technical religious issues, for a century he was one the most widely read philosophers. In particular, his Dictionnaire historique et critique was among the most popular works of the eighteenth century. The content of this huge and strange, yet fascinating work is difficult to describe: history, literary criticism, theology, obscenity, in addition to philosophical treatments of toleration, the problem of evil, epistemological questions, and much more. His influence on the Enlightenment was, whether intended or not, largely subversive. Said Voltaire: “the greatest master of the art of reasoning that ever wrote, Bayle, great and wise, all systems overthrows.” CONDITION: Good Covers / Near Fine Contents. (The boards have worn edges and corners, superficial chips, rubbing, and soil. The replaced spine is in excellent shape. The front blank endpapers are missing. The half title and title pages have light spotting, some darkening and discoloration. The text pages are complete, clean and intact.) Check our other auctions and store listings for additional unusual items Check our other auctions and store listings for additional unusual items Listing and template services provided by inkFrog

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