First edition of the famous philosophical dialogues by Frans Hemsterhuis (1721-1790), probably the most original Dutch philosopher of the 18th century, who influenced Immanuel Kant and romanticism. In the dialogues between Aristée and Dioclès, Hemsterhuis discussed the existence of God and his relation to man, aiming at a synthesis of Newtonian mechanical philosophy and Socratic philosophy of man, elaborating on topics as the nature of evil, the conception of beauty, religion etc.
With a manuscript note in French on the first blank leaf, written in red ink, signed and dated: "Montasacre, A. Binaux, 1861". In very good condition, with generous margins. Buijnsters 7; Cohen-De Ricci, col. 481; STCN 240058658; Stoddard 9.