Hermetica

First published in 1924, this classic four-volume work contains various Greek and Latin writings of religious or philosophic teachings ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus, with Walter Scott's extensive notes, commentary, and addenda.

It is said that these teachings are records of private, intimate talks between a teacher and one or two of his disciples. The setting was in Egypt under the Roman Empire, among men who had received some instruction in Greek philosophy, and especially the Platonism of the period, but were not content with merely accepting and repeating the dogmas of the orthodox philosophic schools. Instead, they sought to expound a philosophic religion that would better satisfy their needs.

Included here are the translator's notes on the twenty-eight libelli of the Corpus Hermeticum. Volumes I, III, and IV of Hermetica, which contain Scott's translation, his notes on the Latin Asclepius and the Hermetic excerpts of Stobaeus, and testimonia, addenda, and indices, are also published by Shambhala.