Editing Denis Diderot (section)

===Genesis===
[[File:Encyclopedie de D'Alembert et Diderot - Premiere Page - ENC 1-NA5.jpg|thumb|Title page of the {{lang|fr|[[Encyclopédie]]}}]]

[[André le Breton]], a bookseller and printer, approached Diderot with a project for the publication of a translation of [[Ephraim Chambers]]' ''[[Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences]]'' into French, first undertaken by the Englishman [[John Mills (encyclopedist)|John Mills]], and followed by the German [[Gottfried Sellius]].<ref name="EB1911"/> Diderot accepted the proposal, and transformed it. He persuaded Le Breton to publish a new work, which would consolidate ideas and knowledge from the [[Republic of Letters]]. The publishers found capital for a larger enterprise than they had first planned. [[Jean le Rond d'Alembert]] was persuaded to become Diderot's colleague, and permission was procured from the government.

In 1750, an elaborate prospectus announced the project, and the first volume was published in 1751.<ref name="EB1911"/> This work was unorthodox and advanced for the time. Diderot stated that "An encyclopedia ought to make good the failure to execute such a project hitherto, and should encompass not only the fields already covered by the academies, but each and every branch of human knowledge." Comprehensive knowledge will give "the power to change men's common way of thinking."<ref>Examples are Diderot's articles on Asian philosophy and religion; see [[Urs App]]. ''The Birth of Orientalism''. Philadelphia: [[University of Pennsylvania Press]], 2010 ({{ISBN|978-0812242614}}), pp. 133–187.</ref> The work combined scholarship with information on trades. Diderot emphasized the abundance of knowledge within each subject area. Everyone would benefit from these insights.