Diderot
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Diderot. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
Denis, de-ne de-dro' (1713-1784), a French philosopher and writer. He was born at Langres. His father gave him a classical education, designing him for the church. The young man disliked this calling, however, and was no better pleased with the law, which he tried for a short time. His father was so displeased with him that he refused further aid. Young Diderot had a hard time for many years. He married at the age of thirty, increasing his cares, with no increase in income. About the same time he began to turn his attention to literature. He wrote philosophical essays, made translations, and wrote dramas. The latter were entirely unsuccessful. Diderot's really important work was the Encyclopedie, regarded as one of the principal works of the age in France. He and D'Alembert were joint editors. Diderot wrote the articles on historical subjects, on ancient philosophy, and on the mechanical arts and industries. He revised all articles. He was fitted both by natural gifts and by education for this work, which occupied him for thirty years. Diderot was a somewhat fanatical atheist. He was desirous of converting his countrymen to his views. He propagated his ideas to some extent through his encyclopedia. Rameau's Nephew and The Nun are two of Diderot's stories. They give effective pictures of the corrupt society of the time.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
DENIS (de-drō'), a French philosopher, foremost of the "Encyclopædists"; born in Langres, Oct. 5, 1713. "Philosophic Reflections" burned by the hangman and therefore widely circulated-and "A Skeptic's Walk" (1747), were part of a warfare against the church. In the compilation of the "Encyclopædia" Diderot bore the main burden. He wrote all the articles on technology and industries, on points of philosophy, and even on physics and chemistry. He wrote admirable reports (1765-1767) of the art expositions at the Paris Academy, and some plays. His novel, "The Nun," and his dramatic dialogue, "Rameau's Nephew," are wonderfully effective pictures of the corrupt society of the time. His little sketches "Little Papers" show kindly humor and wit. He died July 31, 1784.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both entries treat Diderot chiefly as the editor who "bore the main burden" of the Encyclopédie, with his fiction as a sideline; modern criticism reverses that emphasis, ranking him among the great imaginative writers of the eighteenth century. That shift was made possible by texts these entries could barely know: much of Diderot circulated only in manuscript or posthumously, and the autograph of Rameau's Nephew was recovered by Georges Monval in 1890 and published in 1891, while further papers from the family collection reached the Bibliothèque nationale in the twentieth century. Aiton's flat label "a somewhat fanatical atheist" has also softened — scholars now read him as a restless materialist who staged his doubts as dialogue rather than preached them. In 2013, his tercentenary, French campaigners pressed for his transfer to the Panthéon; it did not happen.
Written for this edition, 2026.