Berlin, 1785 Format 16°, 15 x 9 cm. 330, XL numbered pages, in German. Title page printed in black. Firm half-leather binding, spine with gilt lettering and decoration. Published by Christian Friedrich Voß und Sohn in Berlin in 1785, 1st edition. The magnum opus of the German-Jewish Enlightenment thinker Moses Mendelssohn, in which he rationally argues for the existence of God. The book is exceptionally rare, being the first edition of the author`s last work, published shortly before his death. It furthermore sparked a fundamental philosophical dispute over pantheism (the Pantheismusstreit) that influenced thinkers such as Kant, Goethe, and Hegel. The second part never appeared owing to the author`s death, which makes this first edition a complete yet tragically curtailed testament of an era. Very good condition, only the binding slightly worn.