Amusement philosophique sur le langage des bestes [Ensemble] Lettre a Madame La Comtesse D*** Pour Servir De Supplément À L'Amusement Philosophique Sur Le Langage Des Bestes

First edition. The second work, bound with the first and with only a half-title (without lack), is by Aubert de la Chesnaye des Bois.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Upper joint cracked at head and tail. Corners slightly bumped.
Satirical work mocking the Cartesians and the question of the soul and reason. Bougeant proposed that animals had recovered the souls of the wicked; this allusion, even ironic, to the transmigration of souls resulted in exile from the Jesuits at the college of La Flêche. The work enjoyed great success in Europe, and is primarily an attack against Descartes' mechanistic conception.