Theorie des sentimens agréables, où après avoir indiqué les règles que la nature suit dans la distribution du plaisir, on établit les principes de la théologie naturelle, et ceux de la philosophie morale.

A Paris, Chez Debure père, 1774. With engraved frontispiece and 2 engraved folding plates. xxxii, 352, (4) pp. 12mo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, red label with gilt lettering, red edges, a very, very good copy. Schosler, p. 114; Bibliothèque Voltaire, 2111; Dictionnaire des Journalistes 1600-1789, 516; Cohen, Livres à Gravures, 989. First published in 1736, this is the 5th and best edition of this famous work, enlarged with the Eloge historique de l'auteur (by the abbé de Saulx), and two discourses the author had held in Reims, including his description of an antique monument found in Reims. The content of this work is described in Michaud as 'le dessein de Levesque est de prouver que le bonheur est dans la pratique des devoirs.' Levesque was born in Reims, where he studied at the local university. He went to Paris to continue his studies, especially philosophy, and it was there that he started working on Newton's famous Principia. At the age of 22 he tried to explain the difficulties of Newton's famous work and make it accessible to readers. He lived for a year in London, was a friend of Voltaire and Bolingbroke, whom he introduced to a French audiance, and he received David Hume in Reims, one of Hume's first intellectual contacts in France. - With manuscript ex-libris on title-page: Petit Thouars: Georges Aubert du Petit-Thouars (1724-1794) lieutenant and commander of the city and castle of Saumur.