SAXE (Maurice de). Mes rêveries. Amsterdam and Leipzig, Arkstée & Merkus ; Paris, Desaint & Saillant, Durand, 1757. 2 volumes in one in-4, tortoiseshell calf, triple gilt fillet, ornate spine, marbled edges (Binding of the period). The best edition of the Maréchal de Saxe's masterpiece, based for the first time on the original manuscript of 1740 and illustrated from the author's original drawings. This is the second edition of the work, the first having been published a year earlier by Zacharie Pazzi de Bonneville "from a very shapeless copy", which is why it is considered to be less accomplished. The present edition is the work of Abbé Pérau, who has appended Maurice de Saxe's curious Réflexions sur la propagation de l'espèce humaine, as well as a biography and supporting documents. The illustration consists of 84 beautiful plates of military costumes and fold-out tactical plans, engraved from the author's drawings under the direction of Pierre Patte. One of the copies in which the plates, particularly the military costumes, have been finely watercoloured. Mes rêveries theorises on the recruitment, maintenance and training of troops, then the combination of infantry and cavalry, fortification and entrenchment, and finally the qualities needed by generals. His lofty views prompted Frederick the Great to say: "This marshal could be the teacher of all the generals of Europe". Covers worn and some wear to bindings. Pohler, III, 590 - Colson, 163-164 - Cohen, 942 - Brunet, IV, 174.