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RR 2002/163
Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment Edited by Michael Delon Fitzroy Dearborn Chicago, IL and London 2001 2 vols (xxx+1481pp.) ISBN 1 57958 246 X
L185.00
Keyword Philosophy
The Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment is an edited translation of Dictionnaire Europeen des Lumieres published by the Presses Universitaires de France in 1997. This highly regarded original work of 314 contributors, is Fitzroy Dearborn's first foray into a translated reference work. Sixteen translators, ten translation reviewers and three copy editors later, we have a magnificently produced two-volume encyclopaedia (dictionnaire no longer!) which would grace any library shelf. The 185.00 price tag doubtless represents the formidable investment of the publishers. It represents, also, a considerable investment for the purchaser, and gives your reviewer no mean responsibility to advise well!
Two language questions come immediately to mind. How good is the translation? and how well is the Enlightenment characterised by the dictionary/encyclopaedia headings? The preface to the English edition focuses immediately on the problem of terminology Thus Lumieres, the French term, is not quite the same as "Enlightenment". The latter denotes a process whereas the former is more abstract. How the term "enlightenment" developed is a fascinating story - the new philosophy of science features, while the odium of the French Revolution gave it a bad name in the nineteenth century. (A popular song went "C'est la faute a Voltaire, c'est la faute a Rousseau"; faute = fault.) In essence though,...