The late 17th century is generally regarded as the beginning of modern European encyclopaedism and thus of a development that reached a temporary climax with the spread of the encyclopaedic dictionary in the 18th century. Starting in France, the Netherlands, the German-speaking world and England, the genre of the encyclopaedic dictionary spread in the form of translations and adaptations to Russia and Poland, to Italy, the Iberian Peninsula and northern Europe. Conversely, some of the important French encyclopaedias cannot be thought of without translation and transfer processes from other languages and genres. The encyclopaedism of the Enlightenment is thus always to be thought in the categories of the network and the collective, of dialogue, translation and adaptation.

These and other forms of translation, autonomisation and nationalisation in the context of European encyclopaedism are the focus of the interdisciplinary and international conference taking place at the University of Regensburg, organised by PD Dr. Susanne Greilich and Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink. Interested parties are cordially invited to register for digital participation via Zoom with Susanne Greilich (susanne.greilich@ur.de).