Text in French. (Jean Sgard, Dictionnaire des Journaux 1600-1789, 145, 173; An Account of the Life and Writings of Mr. John LeClerc,; Catalogue général des livres imprimés de la Bibliothèque Nationale XCI, 1065-6). Edited by John LeClerc who was a Protestant theologian who became Professor of Philosophy and Hebrew at the College of the Arminians, Amsterdam. During his career as an academician and editor, Leclerc published three journals, the Bibliothèque Universelle et Historique, the Bibliothèque Choisie, and the Bibliothèque Ancienne et Moderne. Born in Geneva in 1675, LeClerc went to Amsterdam by 1683 and was named a professor at the College of the Arminians in 1683. He initiated publication of the journals to facilitate the exchange of scholarship and ideas in the emergent years of the Age of Reason. LeClerc's three Bibliothèques included reviews of books, as well as the writings of some of the noteworthy scholars of the day, John Locke being a notable example. See Samuel A. Golden, Jean LeClerc (New York, Twayne Publishers, 1972).

This set includes a complete run of the Bibliothèque Universelle et Historique (1686-1694), and 25 of the 26 volumes of the Bibliothèque Ancienne et Moderne (1714-1725). Many volumes in two parts. Volume 25, the last volume of text, is missing of this later publication. Copies of the Bibliothèque Universelle are reprints, second and third editions. Sgard notes that there were "many reprints by Antoind and Henri Schelt between 1696 and 1707" and "a second series of reprints appeared by the Wetstein brothers at Amsterdam between 1717 and 1721."

Volumes of Bibliothèque Universelle include:
1 (1686) 3rd edition reprint 1702 Schelte
2 (1686) 3rd edition reprint 1718 Wetstein
3 (1686) 2nd edition reprint 1700 Schelte
4 (1687) 2nd edition reprint 1702 Schelte
5 (1687) 2nd edition reprint 1705 Schelte
6 (1687) reprint 1720 Wetstein
7 (1687) reprint 1721 Wetstein
8 (1688) original Wolfgang
9 (1688) reprint 1717 Wetstein
10 (1688) reprint 1718 Wetstein
11 (1688) 2nd edition reprint 1707 Schelte
12 (1689) 2nd edition reprint 1700 Schelte
13 (1689) 2nd edition reprint 1700 Schelte
14 (1689) 2nd edition reprint 1698 Schelte
15 (1690) 2nd edition reprint 1699 Schelte
16 (1690) 2nd edition reprint 1698 Schelte
17 (1690) 2nd edition reprint 1699 Schelte
18 (1690) 2nd edition reprint 1699 Schelte
19 (1690) 2nd edition reprint 1699 Schelte
20 (1691) 3rd edition reprint 1702 Schelte
21 (1691) 3rd edition reprint 1707 Schelte
22 (1692) 2nd edition reprint 1698 Schelte
23 (1692) 2nd edition reprint 1699 Schelte
24 (1693) 2nd edition reprint 1699 Schelte
25 (1693) title page missing

Volumes of Bibliotheque Ancienne (all first edition) include:
1 (1714) Martier; 2 (1714) Martier; 3 (1715) Martier; 4 (1715) Wetstein; 5 (1716) Wetstein; 6 (1716) Martier; 7 (1717) Martier; 8 (1717) Martier; 9 (1718) Martier; 10 (1718) Martier; 11 ((1719) Martier; 12 (1719) Wetstein; 12 (1719) Wetstein; 13 (1720) Wetstein; 14 (1720) Wetstein; 15 (1721) Wetstein; 16 (1721) Wetstein; 17 (1722) Wetstein; 18 (1722) Wetstein; 19 (1723) Wetstein; 20 (1723) Wetstein; 21 (1724) Wetstein; 22 (1724) Wetstein; 23 (1725) Wetstein; 24 (1725) Wetstein; 26 (1718) Wetstein. This last volume is the index.

Many covers scuffed at edges. A few leaves near beginning of text in some volumes loose or detached. Remarkably well preserved set.