Exposé VII. Does Not Exist

Exposé VII does not exist in this volume; the numbering jumps directly from Exposé VI to Exposé VIII. As recorded in the Foreword, the lecturer (Grothendieck) sketched the language of descent in general categories only orally, taking a strictly utilitarian point of view and without entering into the logical difficulties raised by that language; a written exposition was deemed beyond the scope of these notes. For a fully formed account, see J. Giraud, Méthodes de la descente, Mémoires de la Société mathématique de France, no. 2 (1964), to which Exposé VIII refers in place of its phantom citations to Exposé VII.