SOURCE: Cherpack, Clifton. “Warburton and the Encyclopédie.” Comparative Literature 7 (1955): 226-39.

In the following essay, Cherpack examines Warburton's contributions to Denis Diderot's Encyclopédie, most of which were unacknowledged by the work's editors.

One of the most vexing aspects of the systematic investigation of the Encyclopédie is the question of ultimate sources. Allusions to the problem abound; and, although much has been done in this vein since le P. Berthier had the pleasure of pointing out the eclectic redaction embodied in the first volume, the sources of many important articles, and, consequently, their function in the publication, are still a mystery to us.¹

Students of the Encyclopédie will have observed that, while a few scholarly articles have dealt directly with lists of works used by the editors,² their borrowings are usually brought to light in the course of synthesizing studies of specific subjects or individuals as...