Crown Prince Frederick's Anti-Machiavel, an idealistic refutation of Niccolò Machiavelli, whose works, such as The Prince, are considered a guideline for the behavior of a king in this age, is published anonymously in 1740, but Voltaire distributes it in Amsterdam to great popularity.

Frederick's years dedicated to the arts instead of politics had ended upon the death of Frederick William and his inheritance of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Before his ascension, Frederick had been told by d'Alembert, "The philosophers and the men of letters in every land have long looked upon you, Sire, as their leader and model."

Such devotion, however, has to be tempered by political realities.

The Encyclopédie had originally been conceived as a French translation of Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopaedia (1728).

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 seventeenth century.

This work has become quite renowned, and four editions had been published between 1738 and 1742.

An Italian translation appears between 1747 and 1754.

In France a member of the banking family Lambert had started translating Chambers into French, but in 1745 the expatriate Englishman John Mills and German Gottfried Sellius were the first to actually prepare a French edition of Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopaedia for publication, which they entitled Encyclopédie.

Early in 1745 a prospectus for the Encyclopédie had been published to attract subscribers to the project.

This four page prospectus was illustrated by Jean-Michel Papillon and accompanied by a plan  stating that the work would be published in five volumes from June 1746 until the end of 1748.

The text was translated by Mills and Sellius, and it was corrected by an unnamed person, who appears to have been Denis Diderot.

The prospectus was reviewed quite positively and cited at some length in several journals.

The Mémoires pour l'histoire des sciences et des beaux arts journal was lavish in its praise: "voici deux des plus fortes entreprises de Littérature qu'on ait faites depuis long-tems" (here are two of the greatest efforts undertaken in literature in a very long time).

The Mercure Journal in June 1745, had printed a twenty-five-page article that specifically praised Mill's role as translator; the Journal introduced Mills as an English scholar who had been raised in France and who spoke both French and English as a native.

The Journal reported that Mills had discussed the work with several academics, was zealous about the project, had devoted his fortune to support this enterprise, and was the sole owner of the publishing privilege.

However, the cooperation fell apart later on in 1745.

André Le Breton, the publisher commissioned to manage the physical production and sales of the volumes, had cheated Mills out of the subscription money, claiming for example that Mills's knowledge of French was inadequate.

In a confrontation, Le Breton physically assaulted Mills.

Mills took Le Breton to court, but the court decided in Le Breton's favor.

Mills returned to England soon after the court's ruling.

For his new editor, Le Breton settled on the mathematician Jean Paul de Gua de Malves.

Among those hired by Malves were the young Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, Jean le Rond d'Alembert, and Denis Diderot.

Within thirteen months, in August 1747, Gua de Malves was fired for being an ineffective leader.

Le Breton then hired Diderot and d'Alembert to be the new editors.

Diderot will remain as editor funtil 1773, seeing the Encyclopédie through to its completion; d'Alembert will leave this role in 1758.

As d'Alembert works on the Encyclopédie, its title expands.

As of 1750, the full title is Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une société de gens de lettres, mis en ordre par M. Diderot de l'Académie des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Prusse, et quant à la partie mathématique, par M. d'Alembert de l'Académie royale des Sciences de Paris, de celle de Prusse et de la Société royale de Londres. ("Encyclopedia: or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts, by a Company of Men of Letters, arranged by M. Diderot of the Academy of Sciences and Belles-lettres of Prussia: as to the Mathematical Portion, arranged by M. d'Alembert of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris, to the Academy of Sciences in Prussia and to the Royal Society of London.")

The title page will be amended as d'Alembert acquires more titles.

After Rousseau's Emile had outraged the French parliament, an arrest order had ben issued by parliament against him, causing him to flee to Switzerland.

Subsequently, when the Swiss authorities also prove unsympathetic to him—condemning both Emile, and also The Social Contract—Voltaire issues an invitation to Rousseau to come and reside with him, commenting that: "I shall always love the author of the 'Vicaire savoyard' whatever he has done, and whatever he may do...Let him come here [to Ferney]! He must come! I shall receive him with open arms. He shall be master here more than I. I shall treat him like my own son."

Rousseau will later expressed regret that he had not replied to Voltaire's invitation.

In July 1762, after Rousseau is informed that he cannot continue to reside in Bern, d'Alembert advises him to move to the Principality of Neuchâtel, ruled by Frederick the Great of Prussia.

Subsequently, Rousseau accepts an invitation to reside in Môtiers, fifteen miles from Neuchâtel.

Rousseau writes to Frederick on July 11, 1762, describing how he had been driven from France, from Geneva, and from Bern; and seeking Frederick's protection.

He also mentions that he had criticized Frederick in the past and would continue to be critical of Frederick in the future, stating however: "Your Majesty may dispose of me as you like.

Frederick, still in the middle of the Seven Years' War, now writes to the local governor of Neuchatel, Marischal Keith, who is a mutual friend of theirs:

    We must succor this poor unfortunate. His only offense is to have strange opinions which he thinks are good ones. I will send a hundred crowns, from which you will be kind enough to give him as much as he needs. I think he will accept them in kind more readily than in cash. If we were not at war, if we were not ruined, I would build him a hermitage with a garden, where he could live as I believe our first fathers did...I think poor Rousseau has missed his vocation; he was obviously born to be a famous anchorite, a desert father, celebrated for his austerities and flagellations...I conclude that the morals of your savage are as pure as his mind is illogical.

Rousseau, touched by the help he received from Frederick, will states that from then onward he took a keen interest in Frederick's activities.

As the Seven Years' War is about to end, Rousseau writes to Frederick again, thanking him for the help received and urging him to put an end to military activities and to endeavor to keep his subjects happy instead.

Frederick makes no known reply, but comments to Keith that Rousseau has given him a "scolding".

Rousseau has lived at Môtiers for two years, spending his time in reading and writing, and meeting visitors.

In the meantime, the local ministers have become aware of the apostasies in some of his writings, and resolve not to let him stay in the vicinity.

Rousseau is summoned by the Neuchâtel Consistory on the charge of blasphemy.

He writes back asking to be excused due to his inability to sit for a long time due to his ailment.

Subsequently, Rousseau's own pastor, Montmollin, starts denouncing him publicly as the Antichrist.

In one inflammatory sermon, Montmollin quotes Proverbs 15:8: "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight"; this is interpreted by everyone to mean that Rousseau's taking communion is detested by the Lord.

The ecclesiastical attacks inflame the parishioners who proceed to pelt Rousseau with stones when he goes out for walks.

Around midnight of  September 6-7, stones are thrown at the house Rousseau is staying in, and some glass windows are shattered.

When a local official, Martinet, arrives at Rousseau's residence he sees so many stones on the balcony that he exclaimes "My God, it's a quarry!"

At this point, Rousseau's friends in Môtiers advise him to leave the town.

Since Rousseau wants to remain in Switzerland, he decides to accept an offer to move to a tiny island, the Ile de St.-Pierre, having a solitary house.

Although it is within the Canton of Bern, from where he had been expelled two years ago, he is informally assured that he can move into this island house without fear of arrest, and he does so.

However, on October 17, 1765, the Senate of Bern orders Rousseau to leave the island and all Bernese territory within fifteen days.

He replies, requesting permission to extend his stay, and offers to be incarcerated in any place within their jurisdiction with only a few books in his possession and permission to walk occasionally in a garden while living at his own expense.

The Senate's response is to direct Rousseau to leave the island, and all Bernese territory, within twenty four hours.

Rousseau leaves the Ile de St.-Pierre on October 29, and moves to Strasbourg.

At this point:, he has invitations to Potsdam from Frederick, to Corsica from Paoli, to Lorraine from Saint-Lambert, to Amsterdam from Rey the publisher, and to England from David Hume.

He subsequently decides to accept Hume's invitation to England.