Editing Denis Diderot (section)

==Incarceration and release==
Angered by public resentment over the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle]], the government started incarcerating many of its critics. It was decided at this time to rein in Diderot. On 23 July 1749, the governor of the [[Vincennes]] fortress instructed the police to incarcerate Diderot, and the next day he was arrested and placed in solitary confinement at Vincennes. It was at this period that Rousseau visited Diderot in prison and came out a changed man, with newfound ideas about the disadvantages of knowledge, civilization, and Enlightenment – the so-called ''illumination de Vincennes''.<ref>Andrew S. Curran, ''Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely'', Other Press, 2019, pp. 95–96</ref>

Diderot had been permitted to retain one book that he had in his possession at the time of his arrest, ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', which he read during his incarceration. He wrote notes and annotations on the book, using a toothpick as a pen, and ink that he made by scraping slate from the walls and mixing it with wine.<ref name=AoV />{{rp|630}}

In August 1749, [[Émilie du Châtelet|Mme du Chatelet]], presumably at [[Voltaire]]'s behest, wrote to the governor of Vincennes, who was her relative, pleading for Diderot to be lodged more comfortably during his incarceration. The governor then offered Diderot access to the great halls of the Vincennes castle and the freedom to receive books and visitors providing he wrote a document of submission.<ref name=AoV />{{rp|630}} On 13 August 1749, Diderot wrote to the governor:

{{blockquote|I admit to you ... that the ''Pensées'', the ''Bijoux'', and the ''Lettre sur les aveugles'' are debaucheries of the mind that escaped from me; but I can ... promise you on my honor (and I do have honor) that they will be the last, and that they are the only ones ... As for those who have taken part in the publication of these works, nothing will be hidden from you. I shall depose verbally, in the depths [secrecy] of your heart, the names both of the publishers and the printers.<ref name="DurantDurant2011">{{cite book|author1=Will Durant|author2=Ariel Durant|title=The Age of Voltaire: The Story of Civilization, Volume IX|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXXlCgQR4V8C&pg=PT781|year=2011|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1451647662|page=781}}</ref>}}

On 20 August, Diderot was moved to a comfortable room in the fortess and allowed to meet visitors and walk within the gardens. On 23 August, Diderot signed another letter promising never to leave the prison without permission.<ref name=AoV />{{rp|631}} On 3 November 1749, he was given his freedom.<ref name=AoV />{{rp|632}} Subsequently, in 1750, he released the prospectus for the ''[[Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers|Encyclopédie]]''.<ref name=AoV />{{rp|633}}