An Introduction to Diderot’s Encyclopedia

Professor Natania Meeker of USC’s French department, discusses the landmark “Encyclopédie.” Compiled by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert largely between 1751–1772, the massive undertaking represents the pinnacle of Enlightenment thought. This is part of a series of short instructional videos USC Libraries has produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, when access to our physical collections is necessarily limited. USC professors who regularly teach with our primary source collections have collaborated with our Special Collections department to provide additional context about these items’ use, material context, and importance for scholars.