78 Hermès Trismégiste Traduction complète précédée d'une étude sur l'origine des livres hermétiques, par Louis Ménard.
Paris 1866

Elegant and clear French translation of CH I-XIV, after the Greek text of G. Parthey (1854) [no 76], followed by Asclepius, fragments from the anthology of Stobaeus - including the relatively long Korè kosmou - and finally the Definitiones Asclepii (CH XVI-XVIII), after the Greek text of Patrizi (1591, 1593) [nos 47 and 48].

Ménard is the first to place the hermetic texts in the perspective of the study of comparative religions, using insights obtained from the still nascent discipline of Egyptology and the study of Hellenistic mystery religions. He distinguishes Jewish, Greek and Egyptian treatises and notes hybrid texts. He classifies CH I as Jewish, in view of the evident parallels with the work of Philo and the Gospel according to John. The same applies in some degree to CH VII and XIII. He calls Korè kosmou Greek-Egyptian, on the basis of the correspondence with Plato's Timaeus. He calls the Latin Asclepius an Egyptian treatise. With Ménard, some two and a half centuries after Isaac Casaubon, interest in the Egyptian background of the hermetica is rekindled.

This edition was reprinted in 1867.

Ref. Mahé II, 10-11


79 Hermes Trismegistus. The theological and philosophical works. Translated from the original Greek, with preface, notes, and indices by John David Chambers.
Edinburgh 1882

English translation of CH I-XIV, after the Greek text of G. Parthey (1854) [no 76]. CH XVI-XVIII, the Definitiones Asclepii, are not included by Chambers: 'The whole is alien from the spirit and diction of Hermes himself, and must have been composed many years subsequently to the Poemandres'. The translator does add a number of Stobaeus fragments, based on the edition of A. Meineke (1855-1860), together with several loci taken from the works of the Church Fathers. In his preface he lists a number of manuscript and printed versions of the Corpus Hermeticum, but with so much imprecision that the survey is hardly usable.

Chambers points to the similarities between the hermetic texts and Plato's work, the Greek translation of the Bible, the Gospel according to John and the Pauline epistles. The hermetic texts, nevertheless, do not carry within themselves 'a complete Christianity':

There is no express notice of the Nativity, of the Crucifiction, Resurrection, or Ascension, or coming of Christ to Judgment, to be found therein, although there is also nothing inconsistent with these facts. On the other hand [...] they teach emphatically the Unity of the Godhead, the dogma of the Holy Trinity - God the Father, the Word, the Son begotten of Him before the worlds, of the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father through the Son, instrumental in creation, and the Sanctifier; and there are clear allusions to the effusion of this Holy Spirit on the World, with its Seven Gifts in the shape of Fire.

From this Chambers infers that Hermes was not exclusively a Platonist, but also to some extent a Christian.


80 Hermes Trismegistus. The divine Pymander. Translated from the Arabic by Dr. Everard [1650]. With introduction & preliminary essay by Hargrave Jennings. [Ed. R.H. Fryar].
London 1884

Reprint of Dr. Everard's English translation of 1650 [no 63], with an introduction written by Hargrave Jennings (1817?-1890), the author amongst others of The Rosicrucians, their rites and mysteries (1870), a highly original work which was of great influence on the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (founded 1866).

Jennings discusses the backgrounds of Hermes Trismegistus as reported by the classical authors (Manetho, Clemens of Alexandria, Suidas, Eusebius) and refers to the second edition of Patrizi's Nova de universis philosophia (1593) [no 48] for a more expanded edition of the hermetic texts. In this context the editor announces the translation, by way of addendum, of Korè kosmou, the long fragment from Stobaeus' anthology, of which both the original Greek text and the Latin translation were included in Patrizi's edition. The English translation appeared under the title Virgin of the world in 1885.

81 Hermes Trismegistus. The virgin of the world. Now first rendered into English with Essay Introductions and Notes by Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland. [Ed. R.H. Fryar].
London 1885

English translation of the Stobaeus fragment Korè kosmou, based on the second edition (1867) of the French text of Louis Ménard.

Anna Bonus Kingsford (1846-1888) was physician, mystic and visionary. For a brief period she was a member of the London lodge of the Theological Society. In May 1884 she founded, together with the lawyer Edward Maitland, the Hermetic Society, a society devoted to the study of the Western hermetic tradition. Among its members were MacGregor Mathers and Westcott, the editor of no 83.

The present edition also contains a new English translation of the Latin Asclepius, under the title A treatise on initiations; or, Asclepios, together with the translation of CH XVI-XVIII: The definitions of Asclepios and a collection of fragments from the anthology of Stobaeus.

R.H. Fryar concluded his editions of hermetic texts with an alchemical work attributed to Hermes Trismegistus: Aureus: the golden tractate. With an introductory essay by John Yarker, published in Bath in 1886. The English text was adopted from A suggestive enquiry into the hermetic mystery (1850) by Mary Anne Atwood. Fryar's edition ends with the English text of the Tabula smaragdina.

Ref. Howe, 39-40.


82 [Hermes Trismegistus]. The Pymander of Hermes. Ed. W. Wynn Westcott.
London and New York 1894. Collectanea Hermetica, vol. II.

Together with MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918), the physician W. Wynn Westcott (1848-1925) was one of the founders of The hermetic order of the Golden Dawn in 1887. In the years 1893-1896 Westcott published a series in nine volumes called Collectanea Hermetica. The second volume contains The Pymander, a re-edition in modernized spelling of John Everard's translation of 1650 [no 63].

In his Preface Westcott writes concerning the Egyptian and Greek mysteries:

All these Mysteries were initiations, or forms of Esoteric instruction relating to theosophy, properly so-called, that is the knowledge of divine powers and beings, and the connection between Man and the Divine Source from which he is animated and inspired. Now the tracts which have come down to us, associated with the name of Hermes as their author, are all concerned with that arcane wisdom which was developed in three directions: Theosophy - religious and ethical teaching; Alchymy - the relation of material to the spiritual and the transmutations of the former into the latter; and Magic - the employment of the higher powers latent in man upon the physical plane. In the Hermetic tracts these several objects are not kept distinct, but on the contrary, are almost invariably combined; hence the great value to a true student of Occultism of these very ancient writings.

Westcott complains that although there are numerous editions of the Pymander, it is very hard to actually obtain copies.

The Hermetic texts naturally formed an essential component of the esoteric training of the Golden Dawn. They had to be studied in addition to the Golden verses of Pythagoras, the Orcales of Zoroaster and cabbalistic and Eastern classicals. R.G. Torrens provides a paraphrase of CH V at the end of The Golden dawn. The inner teachings, under the title The discourse on initiation, 'as a final reminder of the object of contemplation as a means of revealing the inner life'.

Ref. Howe, 34ff; Torrens, 205-8


83 Richard Reitzenstein. Poimandres. Studien zur Griechisch-Ägyptischen und frühchristlichen Literatur.
Leipzig 1904

First critical edition of CH I, XIII, and XVI-XVIII, on the basis of six Greek manuscripts and the editions of Turnebus (1554) [no 43], Foix de Candale (1574) [no 44] and Patrizi (1591, 1593) [nos 47 and 48].

Richard Reitzenstein (1861-1931) continued the study of Hellenistic religions in the directions suggested by Louis Ménard. He inferred from the hermetic texts the existence of a 'Hermes community' which was to have been established between the second century BCE and the second century CE. The founder was an Egyptian priest, who propagated a Gnostic system which taught that the universe was created by the Egyptian God Ptah and that man - although imprisoned in matter - would be able to free himself by following the path which leads to illumination.

With the exception of a few details, Reitzenstein's thesis of the 'Hermes community' found general acceptance, also as a result of the studies of Jean-Pierre Mahé into the Hermetic fragments found at Nag Hammadi.

Ref. Mahé II, 12-13; Grafton 77-98

84 G.R.S. Mead. Thrice-Greatest Hermes. Studies in Hellenistic Theosophy and Gnosis.
London 1906, 4 pts

English translation of the Corpus Hermeticum, Asclepius, fragments from the anthology of Stobaeus and loci, with extensive comments by the theosophist G.R.S. Mead, who for a while acted as secretary to Madame Blavatsky, and in that capacity collaborated with her on her Secret Doctrine (1888), the ambitious synthesis of the Eastern and Western esoteric traditions and sciences. In 1900 Mead published his Fragments of a faith forgotten, on gnosticism. In 1909 he founded the Quest Society.

In his commentary Mead strongly emphasizes the Egyptian backgrounds of the hermetic texts and devotes a great deal of attention to corresponding gnostic ideas. He greatly admired Reitzenstein's work [no 83], as well as R. Pietschmann's dissertation on the Egyptian origins of Hermes-Thoth: Hermes Trismegistos nach Aegyptischen, Griechischen und orientalischen Ueberlieferungen (1875).

Although Mead's main interest lay in interpreting the hermetic texts in the light of the esoteric philosophy of his age, he also paid considerable attention to the textual history. His chapter on the editions and translations of the Corpus Hermeticum was published in the Theosophical Review as early as 1899 and stands independent of Reitzenstein's work.


85 Hermes Trismegistus. Le Pimandre. Dialogues gnostiques traduits du grec par Georges Gabory, et enrichis d'une préface et de notes.
Paris 1920

French translation of CH I-XIV, after the Greek text of G. Parthey (1854) [no 76].


86 Hermes Trismegistus. Hermetica. Edited with English translation and notes by Walter Scott.
Oxford 1924-36, 4 pts

English translation of the Corpus Hermeticum, the Asclepius and the fragments from Stobaeus' work. Although Scott often suggests brilliant text emendations and provides erudite comments, his translation, due to his drastic textual interferences, is not very useful.

The fourth volume with loci planned by Scott remained unfinished. It was published posthumously in 1936, edited by A.S. Ferguson. The collection of references to Hermes is as such unsurpassed, but urgently needs to be supplemented.

Ref. Mahé II, 18


87 Hermes Trismegistus. Corpus Hermeticum. Texte établi par A.D. Nock et traduit par A.J. Festugière.
Paris 1945-54. 4 pts

First critical edition of the Corpus Hermeticum, to which are added the Latin Asclepius and the fragments from the anthology of Stobaeus. A.D. Nock completed the text comparison in 1938, after a period of twelve years. He used for this purpose the available editions of the Greek text as well as 28 manuscripts.

Nock argues that Stobaeus did not know the Corpus Hermeticum in its present order; at any rate there is no mention of it in his anthology. The first to do so is the 11th-century Byzantine philosopher Psellus.

In addition to a translation with commentary, A.J. Festugière also provided an exhaustive synthesis, in four parts: La révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste (1944-1954). In the first part he discusses the practical or technical Hermetica: astrology, alchemy and magic. The other three parts deal with the philosophical Hermetica and their backgrounds on the basis of three major themes: 'Le Dieu cosmique' [The cosmic God], 'Les Doctrines de l'Ame' [The doctrines of the Soul] and 'Le Dieu Inconnu et la gnose' [The unknown God and gnosis]. In his highly detailed analyses Festugière considers the texts solely against the background of Greek philosophy. This presents a great limitation: he has no eye for the Egyptian backgrounds, or mythological and gnostic aspects of the hermetica. He denies the existence of Hermes communities and in doing so the religious practice. In actual fact he denies the existence of a hermetic doctrine as such. This view is criticized, corrected and supplemented by J.P. Mahé in his masterly Hermès en Haute-Egypte.

Ref. Mahé II, 17-29


88 Jan van Rijckenborgh. De Egyptische oer-gnosis en Haar roep in het Eeuwige Nú. Opnieuw verkondigd en verklaard aan de hand van de Tabula Smaragdina en het Corpus Hermeticum van Hermes Trismegistos.
Haarlem 1960-65. 4 pts

Dutch translation of the Tabula smaragdina and the Corpus Hermeticum, with an extensive interpretation in the light of the teachings of the Lectorium Rosicrucianum, by J. van Rijckenborgh, the inspirator of this spiritual movement. His comments contain gnostic, Manichaean, Cathar, Paracelsist and Boehmist elements.

The translation of the Corpus Hermeticum consists of seventeen books and follows the revised order of the German translation of Alethophilus (1706) [no 66]. The latter based himself on the translation of van Beyerland (1642) and to a lesser degree on that of Patrizi (1591). In a sense, therefore, the present translation can be linked to the Böhme-inspired translation of van Beyerland, thus continuing a tradition. This is also apparent from the interpretation of the concept Nous, the comprehensive intuitive vision. Van Beyerland, Alethophilus and Van Rijckenborgh interpret this as the mind. The latter writes in his commentary:

Ons treft uit de begintekst, dat Hermes de wezenlijke dingen overdacht en dat zijn gemoed zich verhief. Daar moet u wel op letten, want voor de Hermetische mens is dit proces voorwaardelijk. Het bewijst de ideale samenwerking tussen hoofd en hart, die zo noodzakelijk is. Hart en hoofd in samenwerking bepalen het leven. Dat kunt ge onthouden als een axioma.

We are struck by the beginning of the text, that Hermes considered the essential things and that his mind soared. You must take note of this, because this process is a precondition for the Hermetic man. It proves the ideal connection between mind and heart, which is so essential. Together heart and mind determine the quality of life. This you may remember as an axiom.

[Only a cleansed heart can undergo the 'Pymandrian awakening', which is seen as a meeting with God. The mind is the essential sanctuary of dialectical man, which, when cleansed, is in harmony with the 'spirit-spark-atom' or 'Rose of the Heart', the microcosmic remnant of the original divine life.]

Zielegroei eindigt in Pymander, in de vorming van dat brandpunt tussen den geest en de ziel. En van stonde aan is Pymander dan de kandidaat tot een hulp. U moet het geweldige daarvan inzien. Als ge door de fundamentele ommekeer in uw levensgang de ziel tot geboorte hebt gewekt, is van stonde aan het Pymandrisch bewustzijn u tot een grote hulp, zodat u terstond alles herkent en weet en in liefdedaad tot den Vader bidt.

[The growth of the soul finds its conclusion in Pymander, in the formation of that focus between the mind and the soul. And from the beginning onwards Pymander will then be an aid to the candidate. You must appreciate the greatness of this. If you have awakened the soul within you by the fundamental change in your life, the Pymandric awareness will be a great help to you from that moment on, so that you will instantly recognize and know all and will pray to the Father in an act of love.]

With this interpretation of the Corpus Hermeticum the Lectorium Rosicrucianum appeals to the pre-memory of those who are still capable of recognizing the living truth from within, enabling the liberation from the dialectial field of life and the approach to the gate of gnosis.


89 Hermes Trismegistus. Poimandres. Grieks-hermetisch geschrift in het Nederlands vertaald met een transpersonalistische beschouwing. Ed. M. Lietaert Peerbolte. Deventer 1974

Translation of the first discourse of the Corpus Hermeticum, based on the Greek text as included in: R. Reitzenstein and H.H. Schaeder Studien zum antiken Synkretismus, aus Iran und Griechenland (1926). For this translation were also used G.R.S. Mead's edition [no 84] and Manly P. Hall's interpretations. The latter was the founder of the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles.

Lietaert Peerbolte considers the Poimandres in the light of a transpersonal psychology, based on 'peak experiences', a term used to denote various states of expanded consciousness. The translator points out that in the past, these states of heightened consciousness were linked to religious experience. This is clearly demonstrated in Poimandres. The translator hopes that in the coming era there will be a renaissance of the hermetic view of life, stimulated by a transpersonal psychology and a transpersonalist philosophy:

Men moet zich proberen in te denken, dat er heden ergens een academie zou bestaan waar naast modern exact onderzoek en onderricht, docenten en studenten slechts zouden kunnen werken en studeren op een transpersonalistische basis, d.w.z. op een basis van individuele bewustzijnsverruiming of van individueel kosmisch bewustzijn. Iets van deze aard moet o.a. in Alexandrië bestaan hebben als een hermetische universiteit.

One must try to imagine, that at present there were to exist an academy in which, in addition to modern scientific research, staff and students would only work and study on a transpersonalist basis, that is, on the basis of individual mind expansion or of individual cosmic awareness. Something of the sort must have existed amongst others in Alexandria as a hermetic university.


90 Hermes Trismegistus. Corpus Hermeticum, ingeleid, vertaald en toegelicht door R. van den Broek en G. Quispel.
Amsterdam 1990

New Dutch translation, based on the critical edition of the Greek text edited by A.D. Nock and A.J. Festugière [no 87]. Discourses I-IX are translated and annotated by R. van den Broek, discourses X-XVIII by G. Quispel. The emphasis in the notes is largely on similar representations in the New Testament (Paul), the Alexandrian Jewish community (Philo) and the gnostic writings from Nag Hammadi. The major parallels in Greek philosophy have not been left unmentioned. These, however, were already extensively discussed in the notes of W. Scott [no 86] and the commentary by A.J. Festugière.