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Diderot (Dennis Diderot)
1713–1784 (71 years)
His father a cutler, good man—mother also
good
D. educated well by the Jesuits.
Came to Paris a young man—lived ten
years a loafer, a rascal, a literary
hack
Emerged by degrees—is the back‑bone and
brain of the French Encyclopoedia
(The Enc. was some years (12, 16, or 20) in
being finished.)
Diderot was befriended by the Russian
Empress Catherine—she gave him
£3000.
It is said of him that he had the
most encyclopoedical head ever
in the world, and was a most
superb talker.
Diderot with his mouth of gold—
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Walter Whitman
Classon Avenue
near Myrtle Av
Brooklyn