Calvet's Web
Enlightenment and the Republic of Letters in Eighteenth-Century France
Published on 4. July 2002
Book
Hardback
506 pages
978-0-19-924748-6 (ISBN)
Description
Calvet's Web is a study of the correspondence network of an Avignon physician in the period 1750-1810. Esprit Calvet was an antiquarian, natural historian, and bibliophile, and was at the centre of a circle of like-minded intellectuals from various backgrounds, chiefly based in the Rhone valley. Laurence Brockliss explores for the first time in detail the intellectual interests and relationships of a representative sample of the French Republic of Letters. He traces the destruction of the Republic during the Revolution, and its reconstruction, in different guise, under Napoleon.
Calvet's Web is an important contribution to our understanding of the social construction of knowledge, the history of collecting, and the history of the book. In addition, by examining the circle's attitude to the philosophes and their programme of material and moral progress, it offers a new picture of the relationship between the Republic of Letters and the Enlightenment.
Calvet's Web is an important contribution to our understanding of the social construction of knowledge, the history of collecting, and the history of the book. In addition, by examining the circle's attitude to the philosophes and their programme of material and moral progress, it offers a new picture of the relationship between the Republic of Letters and the Enlightenment.
Reviews / Votes
Recommended. * Choice * ... elegantly instructive study ... Drawing on the material from the museum, the correspondence and records of Calvet's possessions, Brockliss has been able to draw up a remarkably full portrait of this mildly unattractive man. * David A. Bell, London Review of Books *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
11 maps, 7 figures, 20 halftones, frontispiece
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
916 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-924748-6 (9780199247486)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
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Content
Introduction: Republic of Letters and Enlightenment ; 1. Esprit Calvet ; 2. The intellectual milieu ; 3. The physician ; 4. The antiquarian ; 5. The natural historian ; 6. The bibliophile ; 7. The revolutionary climacteric ; 8. Conclusion: Enlightenment and Republic of Letters