D'Argens

D'Argens, JEAN BAPTISTE DE BOYER, MARQUIS, born at Aix, in Provence, 1704, at the age of fifteen entered the army, but disabled in 1734 by a fall from his horse, and disinherited for his follies, he went to Holland and tried his fortune in authorship. Frederick the Great, then crown prince of Prussia, was attracted by his writings, and on his accession invited him to the court of Prussia. The king appointed him chamberlain and a director of the fine arts. When almost a sexagenarian he renewed the adventures of his youth by again falling a victim to the charms of an actress, whom he married without Frederick's permission. Deprived of his pension, he returned to Provence, and died near Toulon, 1771. His works fill 38 volumes. See his Mémoires (new ed. Paris, 1807).