MORERI, LOUIS.

Le grand Dictionnaire historique, ou le mélange curieux de l'Histoire sacrée et profane... Dix-huitieme et derniere Edition, Revue, corrigée e& augmentée très considérablement. 8 Vols. (A-Z, all).

Amsterdam, Leiden, La haye, utrecht, P. brunel, R. Wetstein etc., 1740. Folio. Bound in 8 uniform contemp. hcalf. raised bands, gilt spines, titlelabel in leather with gilt lettering. Marbled covers. One cover with some scratches. Otherwise fine, spines only slightly rubbed. Engraved frontispiece. Small stamp at foot of titlepages "Holstein=Holsteinborg". Internally fine.

A fine edition of one of the first modern Encyclopedias. From 1674 to 1750, this important predecessor to modern encyclopedias went through twenty editions, before it finally succumbed to the Encyclopedie ou dictionnaire des sciences, des arts et des metiers. Moreri designed his encyclopedic work partly as a defense of the worldview of the Roman Catholic Church, and that editorial approach prompted competition from a rival encyclopedia, Pierre Bayle's Dictionnaire Historique et Critique, also in this exhibit. Moreri's work is noteworthy for its emphasis on historical and biographical entries, neglected by Bayle as well as by other competitors such as Ephraim Chamber's Cyclopedia. - PMM: 155 (the first edition of 1674).

Order-nr.: 48529