Dictionnaire universel des arts et sciences
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The Dictionnaire universel des arts et sciences was a significant work by Antoine Furetière, a French novelist, satirist, and lexicographer. Published posthumously in 1690, it was a comprehensive dictionary of the French language that Furetière had worked on for approximately 40 years. This endeavor led to controversy and his expulsion from the Académie Française, as it was perceived as a challenge to the academy's own dictionary project.12
Furetière's dictionary was recognized for its comprehensiveness and utility, surpassing the academy's publication. This type of work, focusing on arts and sciences, was part of a trend in the 17th and 18th centuries that reflected a growing public interest in contemporary knowledge, distinguishing it from more retrospective encyclopedic approaches.13
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encyclopaediaEncyclopaedias and politics…his prospectus (1675) for his Dictionnaire universel, found his privilege to publish cancelled by the French government at the request of the Académie Française, which accused him of plagiarizing its own dictionary. The Leipzig book trade, fearing that publication of Johann Heinrich Zedler’s huge Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexikon (1732–50; “Great Complete…
Read More…his prospectus (1675) for his Dictionnaire universel, found his privilege to publish cancelled by the French government at the request of the Académie Française, which accused him of plagiarizing its own dictionary. The Leipzig book trade, fearing that publication of Johann Heinrich Zedler’s huge Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexikon (1732–50; “Great Complete…
Read More- encyclopaediaThe development of the modern encyclopaedia (17th–18th centuries)
…the issue of Antoine Furetière’s Dictionnaire universel des arts et sciences (1690) confirmed the true nature of public taste. Furetière not only compiled a fine encyclopaedic dictionary, but he emphasized the arts and the sciences, thus reflecting the rapidly growing public interest in modern culture, science, and technology. If confirmation…
Read More…the issue of Antoine Furetière’s Dictionnaire universel des arts et sciences (1690) confirmed the true nature of public taste. Furetière not only compiled a fine encyclopaedic dictionary, but he emphasized the arts and the sciences, thus reflecting the rapidly growing public interest in modern culture, science, and technology. If confirmation…
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