Encyclopédie
The Encyclopédie was conceived as a translation of Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopaedia (1728). In 1743, the translation was given by the Parisian book publisher André Le Breton to John Mills, an Englishman living in France. In May 1745, Le Breton announced the work as available for sale, but Mills had not done the work. Le Breton beat Mills with a cane. Mills sued for assault, but Le Breton was set free because he was justified. For his new editor, Le Breton chose mathematician Jean Paul de Gua de Malves. In August 1747, Gua de Malves was fired for being a poor leader. Le Breton then hired Diderot and Jean d'Alembert as the new editors. Diderot would remain editor for the next twenty-five years, seeing the Encyclopédie through to completion.