Research Catalog

Artisanal enlightenment : science and the mechanical arts in old regime France

Title
Artisanal enlightenment : science and the mechanical arts in old regime France / Paola Bertucci.
Author
Bertucci, Paola
Publication
  • New Haven : Yale University Press, 2017.
  • ©2017

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextUse in library JFE 19-2093Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
x, 300 pages : illustrations; 24 cm
Summary
What would the Enlightenment look like from the perspective of artistes, the learned artisans with esprit, who presented themselves in contrast to philosophers, savants, and routine-bound craftsmen? Making a radical change of historical protagonists, the author places the mechanical arts and the world of making at the heart of the Enlightenment. At a time of great colonial, commercial, and imperial concerns, artistes planned encyclopedic projects and sought an official role in the administration of the French state. The Société des Arts, which they envisioned as a state institution that would foster France's colonial and economic expansion, was the msot ambitious expression of their collective aspirations. This work provides the first in-depth study of the Société, and demonstrates its legacy in scientific programs, academies, and the making of Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédie. Through insightful analysis of textual, visual, and material sources, the author provides a ground-breaking perspective on the politics of writing on the mechanical arts and the development of key Enlightenment concepts such as improvement, utility, and progress.
Subjects
Genre/Form
History.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
Acknowledgments -- Introduction: savants, artisans, artistes. Part 1 The natural history of the arts : Lost knowledge and the history of the arts -- Réaumur and the science of the arts. Part 2 The Société des Arts : Theory, practice, improvement -- Society of Arts. Part 3 Writing and making : The politics of writing about making -- L'Esprit in the machine. Epilogue.
Call Number
JFE 19-2093
ISBN
  • 9780300227413
  • 0300227418
LCCN
2017940032
OCLC
982565970
Author
Bertucci, Paola, author.
Title
Artisanal enlightenment : science and the mechanical arts in old regime France / Paola Bertucci.
Publisher
New Haven : Yale University Press, 2017.
Copyright Date
©2017
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Local Note
AUTH: YALE UNIVERSITY.
Chronological Term
1700-1799
Research Call Number
JFE 19-2093
View in Legacy Catalog