ARGENSON (René Louis VOYER DE PAULMY Marquis d')]. Les Loisirs d'un ministre, ou Essais dans le goût de ceux de Montagne, composed in 1736. Liège, C. Plomteux, 1787, 2 vols. 8°, portrait by Dien (19th c.) added as frontispiece, VIII-230 and [4]-231-1 blank p., full contemporary brown speckled calf, decorated smooth spines, title and greefs, marbled edges (a few snags, 1 cap broken, freckles). A good copy. First edition under this title, the Essays in the taste of Montaigne were originally published in 1785 in Amsterdam, but only a small number of copies were printed for family and friends. The manuscript was revised, corrected and arranged for publication by the son of the Marquis d'Argenson, the Marquis de Paulmy. This collection of reflections and thoughts on various subjects is in fact a composition of the Marquis de Paulmy, his son, according to the manuscripts of the memoirs, which will be published only in 1857. It is thus more effectively the first book of the Memoirs of the Marquis d "Argenson published. There is a gallery of portraits of contemporary characters, but also many historical considerations, in particular on the Cardinal of Retz, literary criticisms, in short, the work gives the impression to be a living room of former days, where the conversation, always fine, drags on various subjects. The Marquis d'Argenson frequented the philosophers early, especially Voltaire, he was preoccupied with political thoughts, and he is considered as a precursor of economic liberalism and physiocrats; although he was a minister of foreign affairs and very well versed in diplomacy, his main interest was always in belles-lettres.