John Mills (encyclopedist)
Encyclopedia
John Mills was an encyclopedist on the Encyclopédie
. He was originally a writer on agricultural matters from England
. He proposed and worked on the Encyclopédie with Gottfried Sellius, a native of Gdańsk, who, after being a professor at Halle
and Göttingen
and residing in the Netherlands
, had settled in Paris
.
Mills and Sellius originally proposed simply to translate
articles from Chambers'
Cyclopaedia into French
. However, Mills's knowledge of French was inadequate, the publisher
André Le Breton
was extremely dissatisfied with Mills's work, and Le Breton eventually physically assault
ed Mills. Mills took Le Breton to court, but the court decided that Mills's incompetence had warranted the attack. Le Breton replaced Mills with Jean Paul de Gua de Malves
, who in turn was later replaced by Denis Diderot
.
Soon after the court ruling Mills left for England. In the 1760s he surfaced in London
, where he became a well known author on the subject of husbandry. In 1766 he became a member of the Royal Society
.
Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It was edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert...
. He was originally a writer on agricultural matters from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He proposed and worked on the Encyclopédie with Gottfried Sellius, a native of Gdańsk, who, after being a professor at Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
and Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
and residing in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, had settled in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Mills and Sellius originally proposed simply to translate
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
articles from Chambers'
Ephraim Chambers
Ephraim Chambers was an English writer and encyclopaedist, who is primarily known for producing the Cyclopaedia, or a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.-Early life:...
Cyclopaedia into French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. However, Mills's knowledge of French was inadequate, the publisher
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
André Le Breton
André Le Breton
André François le Breton was a French publisher. He was one of the four publishers of the Encyclopédie of Diderot and d'Alembert, along with Michel-Antoine David, Laurent Durand, and Antoine-Claude Briasson...
was extremely dissatisfied with Mills's work, and Le Breton eventually physically assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
ed Mills. Mills took Le Breton to court, but the court decided that Mills's incompetence had warranted the attack. Le Breton replaced Mills with Jean Paul de Gua de Malves
Jean Paul de Gua de Malves
Jean Paul de Gua de Malves was a French mathematician who published in 1740 a work on analytical geometry in which he applied it, without the aid of differential calculus, to find the tangents, asymptotes, and various singular points of an algebraic curve.He further showed how singular points and...
, who in turn was later replaced by Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
.
Soon after the court ruling Mills left for England. In the 1760s he surfaced in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he became a well known author on the subject of husbandry. In 1766 he became a member of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.
Translations
- Duhamel du Monceau: A Practical Treatise of Husbandry. J. Whiston and B. White, London 1759.
Author or Editor
- Of Commerce and Luxury
- An Essay on the Management of Bees. London 1766
- An Essay on the Weather. London 1770
- A New and Complete System of Practical Husbandry. London 1762-1765 (5 volumes)
- A Treatise on Cattle. 1776
External links
- The Encyclopédie - BBC Radio 4 broadcast (2010-10-26, 21:30)