Gottfried Sellius (real name Gottfried Sell)Blom, p. 36. (1704?–1767) was a German academic and translator. He is known for his work on ''

Teredo navalis ''Teredo navalis'', commonly called the naval shipworm or turu, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family ''Teredinidae''. This species is the type species of the genus '' Teredo''. Like other species in this family, ...

''. and to be one of the three original initiators of an encyclopedia project, which subsequently turned into the ''

Encyclopédie ''Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' (English: ''Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts''), better known as ''Encyclopédie'', was a general encyclopedia publis ...

''.

Life

Acta Eruditorum - II fossili, 1734 – BEIC 13446956

He was born in Danzig. He studied at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

and then at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

, where he took a law degree. He then moved to

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, and married. He became a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1733. Sellius was appointed to chairs of law, at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, and at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

. He taught experimental physics at Halle, but money troubles caused him to move away. A valuable library was auctioned off in 1737. In Paris Sellius took on translation work, in particular of the '' Cyclopaedia'' of

Ephraim Chambers Ephraim Chambers ( – 15 May 1740) was an English writer and encyclopaedist, who is primarily known for producing the '' Cyclopaedia, or a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences''. Biography Chambers was born in Milton near Kendal, Westmor ...

. This project came to a brusque end, when the prospective publisher

André le Breton André François le Breton (2 September 1708 – 5 October 1779) was a French publisher. He was one of the four publishers of the ''Encyclopédie'' of Diderot and d'Alembert, along with Michel-Antoine David, Laurent Durand, and Antoine-Claude ...

rejected the draft translation of Sellius and

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portra ...

, leading to a violent clash and litigation. It did clear the way for the ''

'' of

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promine ...

and

Jean le Rond d'Alembert Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert (; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''Encyclopédie ...

, conceived around 1750 as a new adaptation of the work of Chambers, though subsequently taking its own course.Blom, p. 38. Sellius died in the Charenton Asylum on 25 June 1767.

References

*Philipp Blom (2004), ''Encyclopédie: The triumph of reason in an unreasonable age'', Fourth Estate

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sellius, Gottfried 1700s births 1767 deaths 18th-century German lawyers German translators German male non-fiction writers Writers from Gdańsk Leiden University alumni Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences 18th-century translators