If the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the world’s oldest publication of its kind universally recognised for setting standards in quality and authenticity, its French equivalent can claim to set similar benchmarks in the advancement of knowledge and in the sheer scale of the undertaking.
The extraordinary contributions of 19th century French scholar Larousse Pierre (1817-1875) who produced 17 volumes of the “Grand Dictionnaire universel du xix e siècle” (The Great Universal Dictionary of the 19th century), that included two supplements, in addition to his works as lexicographer, are being showcased at an exhibition hosted by the Pudhuvai Museum at its research centre in Colas Nagar.
The encyclopaedic volumes were published in the 1866-1876 period from the “Libraire Larousse” (publishing house/bookstore) he co-founded in 1852 with like-minded school teacher and friend Augustin Boyer.
Incidentally, 2025 marks the 150th death anniversary of the encyclopedist, who was born in France’s Toucy commune where his father worked as a blacksmith.
“We have featured some of the oldest encyclopaedic volumes in our collection,” said Arivan Aruli, founder-director of the Puduvai Museum, a private enterprise that was established on a Ministry of Culture-approved plan for an Indo-French Museum around 2015.
