Le spectacle de la Nature

4 volumes in-12mo, contemporary red morocco, triple gilt fillet framing the covers, royal coat of arms gilt-stamped at the center, spine with raised bands richly decorated, crowned royal cipher gilt-stamped in the five compartments between the bands, surrounded by 4 fleur-de-lis, decorated edges, gilt roll-tooled inner dentelle, all edges gilt.
Royal armorial and decorated period binding.

166 x 97 mm.

Pluche, Noël-Antoine (1688-1761). The Spectacle of Nature, or Conversations on the Particularities of Natural History That Seemed Best Suited to Arouse Young People’s Curiosity, & to Form Their Minds.
Paris, chez la veuve Estienne & Jean Desaint, 1732-1739.

First edition of the first four volumes of Spectacle de la Nature by Abbé Pluche, printed from 1732 to 1739, out of the eight volumes published by 1750.

"His Spectacle of Nature, or Conversations on the Particularities of Natural History that Seemed Best Suited to Arouse Young People’s Curiosity and to Form Their Minds, appeared for the first time in 1732, was quickly translated into all European languages, and saw a very large number of more or less abridged adaptations. The impact of this book was considerable and it can rightfully be called a best-seller. It inspired many to pursue a vocation as a naturalist.

Strictly speaking, it is not a scientific book but a popularization, treating serious subjects in a light tone. It contributed to spreading the taste for scientific study in the eighteenth century."

Pluche quickly gave up teaching to devote himself fully to writing his project: composing a vast synthesis of natural history aimed at the young, The Spectacle of Nature.

A "best-seller" of the 18th century.
The work, published between 1732 and 1750, met with immediate success, and the first volume was reprinted twice in the six months following its release. Today, The Spectacle of Nature is considered one of the most popular books of the eighteenth century, surpassing even the works of Voltaire and Rousseau. In his study of private library catalogs from the 18th century, academic Daniel Mornet even claimed to have found The Spectacle of Nature more often than the Encyclopédie! Leaving aside what would now be called pirated editions, the work appeared in eighteen French editions, two abridged editions, and many translations into foreign languages. The 212 plates, finely engraved by Jacques-Philippe Le Bas (1707-1783), also make it a rich and pleasant book to consult.

The first four volumes include 18, 35, 33, and 30 plates respectively, many of them fold-out, dealing with natural history, global geography, botany, etc.

One of the book’s great innovations is its composition of both dialogues—between the young chevalier du Breuil, the count and countess Jonval, as well as the local prior—and letters exchanged among the protagonists. Pluche believed dialogue was more enjoyable than exposition, justifying this in the preface to the first volume:

[…] we have tried to avoid dullness; and instead of a continuous discourse or a sequence of dissertations, which often lead to disgust and boredom, we have chosen the style of dialogue, which is the most natural and the best suited to engage all types of readers.

Learning is thus facilitated by pedagogical dialogues that allow an introduction to the scientific knowledge compiled by the author. The style is enjoyable and the reader can follow a conversation full of digressions and lengthy developments on natural history and the description of the main processes of the mechanical arts. Yet, the work is structured and follows a certain logic. For example, Pluche chooses to begin his study with insects, which he considers “the first objects we encounter around us.”

Pluche writes: the aim of this scientific undertaking is "to make the mind curious" in order "to discover beauty, usefulness, and truth." This utilitarian approach places man as master, usufructuary, and recipient of the world. In the preface, one reads:

"All the bodies around us, the smallest as well as the largest, teach us certain truths; they have a language that addresses us—and even addresses us alone."

This nature at the service of mankind, praised by natural theologians, is a providential nature. Pluche claims, for instance, that the hen is a device God has given to turn the scraps of our meals into eggs, or that the tides exist to ease the entry of ships into ports. These statements were targeted by his critics and no doubt explain the decline and relative oblivion of Pluche, who nonetheless deserves credit for reviving the study of natural history in France, paving the way for the success of Buffon and the famous scientists of the Encyclopédie. Less well-known today than the works of these later figures, The Spectacle of Nature nonetheless greatly contributed to spreading naturalist knowledge of the time and to the education of many families. It should be recognized as an important source for the history of natural science in the first half of the 18th century.

Prestigious and sumptuous royal copy, bound at the time with the arms and crowned cypher of King Louis XV (1710-1774).

Louis XV, great-grandson of Louis XIV and third son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, and Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, born at Versailles on February 15, 1710, successively bore the titles of Duke of Brittany, Duke of Anjou, and Dauphin (1712); he succeeded his great-grandfather on September 1, 1715, at the age of five; the regency was then entrusted to Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who in 1721 betrothed him to Marie-Anne-Victoire, Infanta of Spain, his first cousin, but political reasons prevented this marriage; the king was crowned at Reims on October 25, 1722, and declared of age on February 16, 1723; on September 5, 1725, he married at Fontainebleau Marie-Charlotte-Sophie-Félicité Leczinska, daughter of Stanislaus, the deposed king of Poland, by whom he had ten children. Louis XV was nicknamed "Louis the Well-Beloved" following a near-fatal illness at Metz in 1744. He died at Versailles on May 10, 1774. During his reign, Lorraine was annexed to the Crown in 1766, and Corsica was purchased from the Genoese in 1768.