Silk In Diderot's Encyclopedie

Rubaiyat Hossain

The French man of letters and great philosopher Denis Diderot was born on October 5, 1713. He received his early education at Langres. In 1729 Diderot moved to Paris and received his master degree from the University of Paris in September 2nd, 1732. Then he studied law, but mathematics and language also fascinated him.

From 1734 to 1744 he kept himself busy, writing sermons for missionaries and relaxing the coffeehouses, where he met Jean Jacques Rousseau. In 1745 Diderot was approached by the publisher Andre le Breton with a view of bringing out an encyclopedia. Initially the plan was to have a French translation of Ephraim Chambers Cyclopaedia. But Diderot wanted his encyclopedia to be an important organ for mobilizing radical and revolutionary forces. He started working on it with a group of devoted workers that included scientists, artists and publishers. Their goal was to bring out the essential principles and applications of art and science. Another goal of the encyclopedia was to bring out rationalism and faith in the progress of human minds.

The first volume of Diderot's encyclopedia, which is called (in English), "Analytical Dictionary of the Sciences and Arts" was published in 1751. The distribution of the final volumes of plates continued through 1772. During that time, Diderot remained fearless despite tricks played by his enemies and the desertion of his friends. But a critical moment occurred in 1758 when the 7th volume was published. At this time Helvetius's book De l'Esprit, which was considered as a summary of the Encyclopedie was condemned by the Parliament of Paris to be burned. To the 17 volumes of texts and 11 volumes of plates Diderot contributed innumerable articles, specially the history of philosophy, social theory, aesthetics and the mechanical arts.

The encyclopedia was a big success although it was controversial politically. What made it popular were the technology, arts and trades. This encyclopedia gave artisans valuation for their work. It also gave people a new way to think about the artisans and respect them.

As I've mentioned before, Diderot had to deal with lots of political issues and social pressures because of his philosophy. He was one of the French philosophers with a deistic point of view, which reduced the role of God to a mere act of creation; they believed more in rational law discoverable by men. As Diderot's encyclopedia focused on crafts, art and technology, the society took it as his deistic statement.

The encyclopedia deals with agriculture and a wide range of subjects, from rural arts to metal working, from glass to textiles and from fashion to carpentry. The textile portion covers the silk industry in France.

The history of the silk industry in France is particularly interesting and colorful. Despite countless ups and downs, from the 12th to the 18th century, the French improved their silk industry and came up with new technologies. Plates in Diderot's encyclopedia give us a very clear picture of the silk industry in France in the 18th century. From looking at the plates one can imagine the steps the French took weave and process the beautiful silk textiles. The plates include the raising of the silk worms, heating the cocoons to suffocate the pupae, reeling, and weaving. One plate shows the highly sophisticated process called watering, which added different effect to the silk. Looking at all the plates and captions one can imagine what the French people went through in the 18th century to raise a silk industry.

Room For Rearing Silkworms	Smothering The Cocoons
Reeling Silk From Cocoons	Preparing Silk For The Loom
Weaving Silk Cloth	"Watering" Silk Cloth

Six plates from Diderot's Enclyopedie illustrating steps in the preparation of silk.

Back to Silk Circa 1840