Thought I'd share some pictures from a trip to the archives [2/4/2025]. Whilst digital access is fantastic I do find the opportunity to interact with original objects is really exciting and motivating.
This is volume two of the Encyclopédie (B to CEZ) from 1751
I'd originally asked if I could see volume one - but as you can see below, the archivist discovered that that hadn't fared quite so well over the last 274 years! They were happy for me to look at it, but I just wasn't brave enough (plus I thought it really ought to be saved for someone who really needed to study it). At least my requesting it meant the conservator cut some boards to better protect it.
Plus there was a chance to see how the binders had originally stitched the pages.
Looking inside took me straight back to being a child, when the 'Reader's Digest Encyclopedic Dictionary' (only 3 volumes 😀) was a fixture on my parents' bookshelf - and the basis for quite a bit of homework! It did feel like the original 'information superhighway'!
I think illustrations came in separate volumes, but the title page does have this fascinatingly enlightening angel, advancing on a foundation of measurement, scholarship and science.
My school French only gets me so far (and there were only words from B to CEZ 🙂) but given chapter 20 of A223 I was pleased to find the entry for cocoa...
Plenty of evidence for interest in that topic - 8 pages (!!) on everything from how to grow and ship it, to using cocoa-butter as a skin cream.
The entries are linked to their author by a letter - so I spent quite a while trying to track down something by (S), M. Rousseau of Geneva.....
Here he is explaining 'cadence' in modern dances (good to see he knew he was 'modern' 😃), and the tricky business of fitting dance steps to the beat! Apparently along with some important entries on political economy he also covered a lot of the music entries.
Whilst I guess it is an indulgence to seek these objects out largely for enjoyment - I do find it adds something to studying (even if it is partly just an excuse to avoid TMA planning 😆).