Diderot Encyclopedia at the Watson Library
Experience:
My experience handling these 18th century encyclopedias was quite unique, as I have never handled books with such delicacy. There were many rules surrounding the turning of these pages such as no pens, turning only a couple pages at a time, not touching the images, etc. These first editions of the very first encyclopedias were large and had pages full of fine line images with their corresponding word in French. I found that my eyes were first drawn to the images, and my mind tried to figure out their meaning before looking at the word. Though I did know some French previously and could guess the meanings.
Words:
Many of the words I chose were based on my interest in the images rather than the words themselves. Therefore, some of the words below stem from the images rather than the exact word found in the book.
Represent
This is a page of flags but I am intrigued by the ways images and symbols can hold a lot of meaning and history in representing a family, country, or just a group of individuals.
Cut
These pages consisted of surgical instruments and procedures, however they seemed quite aggressive and like torture though the actions are meant to be helpful and healing. The act of cutting can be both positive and negative depending on the subject and situation.
Paradigm: pattern/model
I was drawn to this initially because of the intricate image but I think paradigm can be applied to many concepts .
