Did the Encyclopédie smuggle forbidden ideas past the censors?

Partly. The Encyclopédie did stir up fierce opposition, and it survived through a mix of protectors, false addresses and officials looking the other way. But the famous trick, a secret system of ironic cross-references that quietly undermined the Church, is mostly a legend.

The real fight was out in the open. Because of its sometimes radical contents, the work drew controversy, and a royal edict of 1752 briefly suspended it, accusing it of destroying royal authority and laying the groundwork for irreligion and atheism. In 1759 the government suspended its privilege, yet work continued in secret, partly because of highly placed supporters such as the minister Malesherbes and Madame de Pompadour. French authorities deliberately ignored it, thinking the ban was enough to appease the church.

The publishers added a disguise in the imprint. The first seven volumes said they were printed in Paris, but volumes 8 to 17, published together in 1765, show Neufchastel, across the border. Contributors with heterodox views often left articles anonymous or hid criticism in obscure articles.

The cross-reference story is another matter. People have claimed since at least 1759 that the Encyclopédie had a system of ironic cross-references. When historians checked a much-cited example, they found the very same article, with the same cross-references, in the English Cyclopaedia, and the translation had been signed by an orthodox clergyman. Historian Marie Leca-Tsiomis concludes that there is no evidence of such a system.