8vo. 2 volumes, consisting of 3 parts, bound in 1 volume: (1),174;48 p. Contemporary wrappers. 18 cm (Ref: Cf. Cioranescu 23764 & 23765) (Details: Uncut edges. Woodcut ornament on both titles. Some woodcut headpieces) (Condition: Marbled cover scuffed. Paper on the back partly gone. Somewhat dog-eared) (Note: The most important evolution in European warfare of the 17th century was the expansion of its armies. This development started about 1630, rose to a high level during the French wars of expansion (1660-1710), and continued in the 18th century. The increase in scale made it necessary to professionalize logistics, administration and the recruting of soldiers. Most countries formed standing armies. This brought an end to the undisciplined mercenary armies of uncertain loyalty, and strengthened the grip of the central governments on the military. The result was a further knitting together and a growing identification between the nation and its armed forces. The first Military Academies were established, and the compulsory conscription of young and able citizens was organized. The officer's corps consisted predominantly of loyal noblemen, who found in the army a vehicle for their ambitions. (Source R. Lesaffer, Europa: een zoektocht naar vrede? 1453-1763 en 1945-1997. Leuven, 1999, p. 315-317) § This book, anonymously published in 1767, was written by an officer of the Régiment des Gardes Françaises, the infantery regiment of la Maison du Roi of France, the core of the French army, and also responsible for guarding the exterior of the Versailles, and for maintaining public order in Paris. The aim of this officer was to civilize his colleagues and soldiers of the French army. The occupation of a warrior is, he says, a noble and grave one. (p. 10) However, the reputation of the French army, he continues, is lousy. 'Sans les excès auxquels nos Troupes ont été capables de se porter, nos diverses Campagnes au-delà des Monts auroient eu des suites plus heureuses; la France compteroit peut-être la Hollande au nombre de ses Provinces; les Allemands nous aimeroient, & notre nom seroit honoré chez nos autres voisins'. (p. 12) The French soldier should not rape and plunder, but he should behave himself. 'Un Soldat, tel que le demande de la gloire & l'interêt de l'Etat, est un homme qui se fait un devoir de suivre sa Religion, d'aimer sa Patrie, qui sait marcher à l'ennemi, & le combattre'. (p. 15/16) He should love his country and his Monarch. 'Quelque soin que prenne l'amour-propre de grossir notre mérite à nos yeux, l'attachement sacré des François à leur légitimes Souverains, doit être regardé comme la seule qualité solide qui les distingua de tous tems des autres peuples' (p. 28) The role of the École Militaire is important. 'C'est dans ce temple de Mars, que sont conservés, avec dignité, les restes précieux d'un peuple de Héros, qui ne connurent point d'autre fortune que celle de l'Etat, c'est-là que croissent, sous les yeux de Minerve, de jeunes Hercules (...) c'est de là que sortiront des Officiers (...) & que le Soldat n'appercevra en eux aucun des vices, ni des ridicules qui sont les suites d'une éducation campagnarde ou efféminée'. (p. 32) The identity of the author of this book is revealed by the French author, and philosopher Voltaire already in the September issue of the Mercure de France of 1767. There we find on p. 29: a 6 line poem, announced as 'Vers de M. de Voltaire, au sieur Desrivières, Soldat du Régiment des Gardes-Françoises, de la Compagnie De la Tour, à l'occasion d'un livre intitulé: Loisirs d'un Soldat, &.: 'Soldat digne de Xénophon / Ou d'un César, ou d'un Biron, / Ton écrit dans les coeurs allume / Un feu d'une héroïque ardeur; / Ton Régiment sera vainqueur, / Par ton courage & par ta plume'. Not much is known about this Ferdinand Desrivières, dit Bourguignon. Desrivières was born in 1734 in the Bourgogne, and was an officer (sergent), who wrote in his spare time his Loisirs to instruct and enlighten his fellow officers. He signed the preface to this treatise with D*R**S. (Des RivièreS) His Loisirs was first published in Paris by the publisher/librarian Charles Saillant in 1767, and found several reissues. It was translated into German in 1770. In the same year of its first publication (1767) an augmented second edition was published in Amsterdam. Desrivières added a short continuation in which he discussed several reviews of his Loisirs. He later published also an Essai sur le vrai mérite de l'Officier (1769), which was republished in 1771 under a new title: Suite des loisirs d'un Soldat. Guerrier d'après l'Antique et de bons originaux modernes. In 1770 he produced a Compliment des Gardes françoises à Msgr. le Dauphin sur son mariage to congratulate the crown prince, the later King Louis XVI, and his wife Marie Antoinette. He did so en vers grivois. The Amsterdam edition was possibly produced in cooperation with the Huguenot publisher Marc Michel Rey, 1720-1780, who resided in Amsterdam, and published many titles of French philosophers. Rey and Saillant had e.g. previously collaborated in the production Du Contrat Social of the French philosopher J.J. Rousseau. The description of the Bibliothèque National calls the Amsterdam address of this 1767 edition fake, and observes that the book was produced with permission tacite. The first part of this second edition of the Loisirs (p. 9-132) is a line for line reissue of the first edition of Paris 1767. Only the preliminary pages are printed with different type face. The remaining pages (p. 133-174) contain the added observations of Desrivières concerning reviews of the first edition. From the same press comes the second volume, the Réponse des Soldats du Régiment. These 3 parts are seldom found toghether in one volume. The Regiment of Desrivières was disbanded on the 31th of August in 1789. Voltaire praises Desrivières, as we have seen, sky-high (Xenophon, Caesar), but his contemporary, the philosopher Denis Diderot, 1713-1784, one of the editors of the famous Encyclopédie, thought otherwise. He condems him utterly, the man and his style. We cite his opinion on Desrivières' Essai sur le vrai mérite de l'officier of 1769: 'C'est l'ouvrage d'un homme qui a nuls principes, aucune conséquence dans l'esprit; qui ne sait pas penser, et qui ne sait encore moins écrire, insolent et bas, insultant l'étranger et les subalternes, flattant ridiculement les grands; qui se déchaine contre ceux qui croient aux revenants et qui croit aux vertus hériditaires, qui recommande la bonne institution des jeunes gens et qui cite à la page suivante le mérite de Duguesclin qui ne savait pas lire. C'est l'ouvrage d'un homme sans goût et dont les pages sont farcies des plus ridicules citations en vers. Avec tout cela il est si doux de lire des propos ou des actions qui font honneur à l'espèce humaine que je ne mépriserais pas celui qui pourrait aller jusqu'à la dernière page de ce livre, et cela me serait arrivé si l'on ne m'eût prévenu que votre colporteur ne reprenait pas les livres coupés'. (Fragments inédits de Diderot, Revue de l'Histoire littéraire de la France, 1ère année, no. 2, 1894, p. 169) The loyalty to the House of Bourbon, according to Desrivieres essential for the courage of the French soldier, desintegrated rapidly at the beginning of the French Revolution. 'The sympathy shown by the Gardes Françaises for the French Revolution at its outbreak was crucial to the initial success of the rising.' (Wikipedia, s.v. Gardes Françaises). There was desertion in June 1789, and on the 14th of July mutinous Gardes Françaises took part in the storming of the Bastille. What role the 55 year old (if he was still alive) Desrivières played in this, history doesnot tell) (Collation: pi1, A8, B4, C8, D4, E8, F4, G8, H4, I8, K4, L4, M2; N8, O4, P8, Q1; A8, B4, C8, D4 ) (Photographs on request)