ephraim chambers had first published his "cyclopaedia, or an universal dictionary of arts and sciences" in two volumes in london in 1728, following several dictionaries of arts and sciences that had emerged in europe since the late 17th century. this work became quite renowned, and four editions were published between 1738 and 1742. an italian translation of this work appeared from 1747 to 1754. in france a member of the banking family lambert began translating chambers into french, but in 1745 john mills and gottfried sellius were the first to actually prepare a french edition of ephraim chambers's "cyclopaedia" for publication, which they entitled "encyclopédie".