Le Monde primitif d'Antoine Court de Gébelin, ou le rêve d'une encyclopédie solitaire

Abstract

Antoine Court de Gébelins Le monde primitif. In 1772, the date of the publication of the final volumes of the Encyclopédie, Court de Gébelin, a well-known Protestant and Freemason, launched a subscription for Le Monde primitif analysé et comparé avec le monde moderne, a work which should have run to thirty or so volumes. The discovery which he was presenting to the public, that of the primitive language, of which he promised a dictionary, was to provide the explanation for everything that was still mysterious and give the Encyclopédie the roots it was lacking. This article studies Court de Gébelin's undertaking, compares and contrasts it with that of the Encyclopaedists, and shows the extent to which it was wildly amibitious, opened up seductive paths and proposed a dangerous vision of the world and history.