The last of the great Enlightenment encyclopedias,

Charles Joseph Panckoucke's Encyclopédie méthodique

was originally conceived as an innovative revision

of the Encyclopédie and the Supplément. Arranged in

a series of subject-specific dictionaries, it began to

appear in 1782 and was completed 50 years later,

boasting 203 volumes of text and plates produced by

many eminent editors and contributors. Kathleen

Hardesty Doig's book is the first to compare the

genealogy of the Méthodique with its predecessors as a

means to understanding Panchoucke's original vision

for his work. Through careful examination of each

volume of the Méthodique , the author explores for

instance:

- how Diderot's materialist, anti-clerical articles

were scrupulously preserved;

- how new contributions on religious topics,

written by a renowned French theologian,

provided a counter-balancing apology of

Catholicism;

- how subjects were augmented or radically

transformed, particularly in the sciences where

articles reflect groundbreaking research in

chemistry and medicine;

- how these changes illuminate the editors'

original goal of an encyclopedia designed to

present information in an accessible format to

specialists and amateurs alike.

'This deeply researched work explores the

construction of Panckoucke's innovative enterprise. It

sheds new light on the emergence and development of

the disciplines as well as their respective boundaries

and interrelations. The breadth of Kathleen Doig's

scholarship is remarkable.'

Robert J. Morrissey, University of Chicago