In the 28 volumes of the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers published from 1751 to 1772 under the direction of Diderot, d’Alembert, and Jaucourt, several articles deal with basso continuo accompaniment. Like numerous articles on musical subjects, most of them were written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as a first draft of his Dictionnaire de musique. These texts address different aspects of accompaniment by keyboard instruments. The article Accompagnement (vol. I) defines the principles of its teaching and practice. Règle de l’octave (vol. XIV) teaches which chords are to be played on an unfigured bass. Chiffrer (vol. III) deals with the chord notation system. Doigter (vol. V) and Face (vol. VI) deal with the position of the hand and fingers, and their movement in the chord sequence. Accompagnateur (vol. I) lists the qualities one is expected to have in order to play the accompaniment. Arpeggio (vol. I) and Harpègement (vol. VIII) describes the ways of arpeggiating the chords, on the harpsichord and on the cello. This last article also examines the particular case of the accompaniment of recitatives. These texts have given rise to numerous comments since the XVIIIth century: since its publication in 1751, Rousseau’s article Accompagnement has been at the root of a long controversy between Rameau and Rousseau. Indeed, these articles are part of a dual quarrel: on the one hand around Rameau’s theories, on the other hand between the supporters of Italian music and the defenders of the French aesthetic. Beyond these controversies, these texts also provide valuable information on performance of basso continuo in France in the mid-eighteenth century