Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment /

A translation of Dictionnaire europeen des Lumieres, ed. by Michel Delon (Paris, 1997), this encyclopedia brings an important perspective to the growing array of reference works on the Enlightenment. Avoiding chronological or geographical definitions, it adopts an international, interdisciplinary approach, though a French bias is sometimes apparent. It focuses primarily on concepts, bringing to bear recent advances in scholarship and new geographic and disciplinary approaches. A web of interrelated articles comprises principal essays on the countries and cultural regions where the Enlightenment flourished and on the major fields of intellectual activity. Shorter articles treat cultural institutions and categories ("Salons," "Conversation"). A third tier treats anthropological categories ("Body," "Love," "Work"). Topics range from the expected to the surprising, "Ballooning" and "Garden" to "Volcano" and "Words, Abuse of." Signed articles are enhanced by cross-references and updated bibliographies. A general bibliography cites sources common to many articles, key research tools, and major journals in the field. This work complements the recent The Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment, by Peter Hanns Reill and Ellen Judy Wilson (CH, Nov'96), and The Blackwell Companion to the Enlightenment, by John W. Yolton et al. (CH, Nov'92), which combine biographical, factual, and conceptual entries. All collections. S. F. Roberts Yale University

This attractively designed and well-formatted encyclopedia is a translation of the 1997 Dictionnaire europen des Lumires, edited by the noted French cultural historian Delon. Delon observes that the term Enlightenment simultaneously denotes an intellectual movement, the period in which this movement came to the fore, the issues we have inherited from it, and a system of values that still stirs debate. In this two-volume set, an international (though primarily French) group of scholars explore concepts and subjects related to these various denotations. There are no separate biographies; instead, articles present an overview under several rubrics: country (e.g., Germany), cultural (e.g., astronomy, libraries, salons, coffeehouses), aesthetic (e.g., baroque, grotesque), anthropological (e.g., love, work, children, surgery), and descriptive (e.g., night, reverie, gas). The text emphasizes the Enlightenment on the Continent, reflecting current interests and trends in European research, and bibliographical references at the end of most articles emphasize European-language materials. The writing throughout is clear, the translations flow smoothly, and each essay can stand alone. A system of cross references provides further guidance, and a well-organized index leads to biographical and other embedded information. Written in the grand tradition of the five-volume Dictionary of the History of Ideas (LJ 11/1/73. o.p.), this encyclopedia is a major contribution to reference literature. Though it should be supplemented in libraries by other compendia such as the more fact-oriented and biographical one-volume Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment (Facts On File, 1996), it will provide useful and thought-provoking material for students and researchers for years to come. For all academic and large public libraries. Barbara Walden, Univ. of Wisconsin Lib., Madison (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.