Another problem that I ran into is the order of the treatises of the Corpus Hermeticum.
I thought that this order had long been fixed and agreed upon, but even fairly recent editions of the text, have different orders and different treatises even! I may have to let you down admitting that I own only two version of the text, which are the Dutch translation by Roelof van den Broek and Gilles Quispel (1990) who use the ‘official counting’ of I-XIV and XVI-XVIII, which I will explain lateron and the four books of Jan van Rijckenborgh (see below). Further, the internet, information of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica by email (thank you Cis), the small library of the local temple of the Lectorium Rosicrucianum and later a book by Frank van Lamoen (see bookreviews section), have made me able to compare four other versions: Van Beyerland (1643), Everard (1650), Mead (1906), Van Rijckenborgh (1960-1965) and Copenhaver (1992, including Asclepius).
To start, I want to give you a short account of the history of the Corpus Hermeticum.
| 11th cent. | Michael Psellus knows the Corpus Hermeticum as bundled treatises; |
| 1463 | Ficino finishes the translations of 14 treatises that he got from Cosimo de Medici; |
| 1471 | after having circulated for several years, the first publication follows; |
| – – – > | more and more manuscripts turn up, some of which have more treatises than Ficinos; |
| 1507 | Ludovico Lazzarelli translates the current treatise XVI to Latin; |
| 1554 | the Greek text is published by Adrianus Turnebus. this version contains 16 treatises and 3 fragments from a compilation of Greek quotes that John Stobaeus made for his son; |
| 1574 | François de Foix republishes the Greek text with some corrections. also he leaves out the current treatises XVII and XVIII and puts in the Stobaeus quotes as treatise XV; |
| 1494 | Jacques le Fèvres d’Etaples meets Ficino and released the sixth (!!) printing with his own commentary; |
| 1565 | le Fèvres published the Corpus and the Asclepius in one book. |
Many later versions used the De Foix Greek printing to translate the text, but left out the spurious Stobaeus texts without altering the numbering. Even the first scientific publishing of Nock and Festugière (1945-1952) uses the numbering I-XIV + XVI-XVIII.
This is also the reason that I expected all versions after 1574 to have the same order, but this is not true.
Let me give you the order of my “scientifically just” version of the Corpus Hermeticum, a Dutch translation based on the Greek text in the publishing of Nock and Festugière. Of course I only have Dutch titles of the treatises so the English versions are my own.
| I | Poimandres |
| Poimandres | |
| II | Een algemeen gesprek van Hermes met Asclepius |
| A general conversation of Hermes and Asclepius | |
| III | Een gewijde verhandeling van Hermes |
| A consecrated discourse of Hermes | |
| IV | Het Mengvat of De Eenheid |
| The Crater or Unity <“Mengvat” actually means “mixing-barrel”> | |
| V | God: onzichtbaar en toch goed zichtbaar |
| God: invisible and yet very visible | |
| VI | Het Goede is alleen in God en nergens anders |
| Goodness is in God alone and nowhere else | |
| VII | Onwetendheid aangaande God: het grootste kwaad onder de mensen |
| Ignorance concerning God: the biggest evil of mankind | |
| VIII | Van wat bestaat, vergaat niets |
| Nothing that exists shall perish | |
| IX | Inzicht en Waarneming |
| Insight and Perception | |
| X | Openbaring van de driewerf grote Hermes: Sleutel |
| Disclosure of the thrice greatest Hermes: Key | |
| XI | De Geest spreekt tot Hermes |
| The Mind speaks to Hermes | |
| XII | De Geest die het Al doordringt |
| The Mind that penetrates All | |
| XIII | De driewerf grote Hermes spreekt tot zijn zoon Tat |
| The thrice greatest Hermes speaks to his son Tat | |
| XIV | Het Wezen van het Al |
| The Being of All | |
| XVI | Aforismen. Een brief van Asclepius aan koning Ammon |
| Aformisms. A letter of Asclepius to king Ammon | |
| XVII | Beelden |
| Images (or Statues) | |
| XVIII | Lofrede op het Koningschap |
| Eulogy to Kingship |
Please note that there is no treatise XV.
This order will be the basis of the comparisons of the other Corpus Hermeticums.
On 10 september 2005 I got a booklet with the coverage of a symposium about the Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel (1572-1633). Included is a fascimile of Drebbel’s book about his perpetuum mobile (Wonder-Vondt van de eeuwighe bewegingh 1607). This short text was followed by the earlierst translation of the Corpus Hermeticum in print in Dutch (in 1580 a manuscript in Dutch was present in Antwerpen). This translation is made by Gerrits Pieterz Schagen which on its turn is a translation of the Italian (Florentine) translation of Tomasso Benci. The order and titles of the “sermoenen” (sermons) are:
| Mercurius Trismegistus / van de macht ende wijsheyt Gods. ghenaemt Pymander |
I |
| Mercurius Trismegistus / of the power and wisdom of God. named Pymander | |
| Sermoen universael / van Mercurio tot Esculapium. II. | II |
| Universal sermon / of Mercuriu to Esculapium. II. | |
| Dat heylighe Sermoen van Mercurio. Het III. Op die wijse : Het daghet upt den Oosten | III |
| The holy sermon of Mercurio. The IIIrd. In this way : It dawns in the East | |
| Mercurius tot Tagium / van die schale oft eewichyt. Dat IIII. Sermoen | IV |
| Mercurius to Tagium / of the dish of eternity. The IIIIth Sermon | |
| Mercurius tot Tagio / hoe dat God verborghen is ende openbaer/ Dat V. Sermoen. | V |
| Mercurius to Tagio / how God is hidden and open / The Vth Sermon | |
| Mercurius tot Esculapium / dat het goet alleen in Godt is / maer niet elders. Dat VI. Sermoen | VI |
| Mercurius to Esculapium / that good is in God only / but not elsewhere. The VIth Sermon | |
| Dat het meeste quaet van de Menschen is / Godt niet te kennen. Dat VII. Sermoen | VII |
| That the most evil of Men is / not knowing God. The VIIth Sermon | |
| Mercurius tot Tagio / datter niet en sterft van alle dinghen die daer sijn: Maer die Menschen bedroghen zijnde / hieten die veranderinghe den doot. Dat VIII. Sermoen. | VIII |
| Mercurius to Tagio / that not dies all things that are there: But Men are deceived / those changes are called death. The VIIIth Sermon. | |
| Van die verstandenis en de ghevoelen / dat in Godt alleen die schoonheyt is / ende dat goet / ende niet elders. Dat IX. Sermoen | IX |
| Of sense and feeling / that only in God is beauty / and that good / and nowhere else. The IXth Sermon | |
| Mercurius Trismegistus tot Tazio / zijnen Sone / die Sleutel. Dat X. Sermoen | X |
| Mercurius Trismegistus to Tazio / his Son / the Key. The Xth Sermon | |
| Hier nae volght van Godt ende die Weerelt / ende haerder ordonantie. Dat XI. Sermoen. Dat Ghemoet tot Mercurium. | XI |
| Hereafter follows of God and the World / and her rules. The XIth Sermon. The Mind to Mercurium. | |
| Mercurius spreekt tot Tazio in ‘t gheheym. Dat XII. Sermoen | XII |
| Mercurius speaks to Tazio in secret. The XIIth Sermon | |
| Mercurius spreekt tot Tazio / van die wedergheboorte / ende van die insettinghe van stilswijghen. Dat XIII. Sermoen | XIII |
| Mercurius speaks to Tazio / of rebirth / and the keeping of silence. The XIIIth Sermon | |
| Hier volght den Hymnus / ofte Lofsang van Hermes / ofte Mercurius Trismegistus / Op de wijse van die gratias: O Heer wij dancken dijner goedt. Uit den Italiaenischen verduytscht. Hymnus, dat is, een Lofsangh. Dat XIIII. Sermoen. | ? |
| Here follows the Hymn / or the Praise of Hermes / or Mercurius Trismegistus / In the manner of grace: O Lord we thank your goodness. ‘Dutched’ from Italian. Hymn, that is, Praise. The XIIIIth Sermon | |
| Een Epilogus / oft een verhalinghe van Mercurio tot Esculapium. Dat XV. Sermoen. | XIV |
| An Epilogue / or a tale of Mercurio to Esculapium. The XVth Sermon. |
Then we come to another Dutch translation, being that of
the Abraham Willemsz van Beyerland (1586-1648). I haven’t seen anything of the book,
but according to Van Lamoen, Van Beyerland used the Greek-Latin version of Francesco Patrizi (1529-1597, book released in 1591) who had a different order. More about this below.
The version of John Everard (1575-1650) can be found online at the site of Adam MacLean and as PDF from Hermetics.org
(look for “Corpus Hermetica”). It has 17 treatises, even though it is claimed to be a translation of Ficinos Latin version, which has only 14 treatises. According to Frank van Lamoen (see book reviews section), Everard used the Patrizi translation, but skips a few of his books.
Everard opens with a Stobaeus fragment. Then follow a few CH treatises in the alternative order. After this Everard skips Patrizi’s book XIII which is the Korè Kosmou fragment of Stobaeus and also skips Patrizi’s book XIV which is a compilation of eight Stobaeus fragments. Then follows an authentic treatise, Stobaeus fragments as books XIV and XV and two more authentic treatises. A.E. Waite used this translation in his “Collecteano Hermeticana”.
Here is the index of Everards translation, the right column is the numbering based on the ‘official’ numbering:
| The First Book. | ? |
| The Second Book – Poemander. | I |
| The Third Book – The Holy Sermon. | III |
| The Fourth Book – The Key. | X |
| The Fifth Book – That God is not Manifest and yet most Manifest. | V |
| The Sixth Book – That in God alone is Good. | VI |
| The Seventh Book – His Secret Sermon in the Mount or Regeneration, and the Profession of Silence. | XIII |
| The Eighth Book – That the greatest Evil in Man, is the not knowing God. | VII |
| The Ninth Book – A Universal Sermon to Asclepius. | II |
| The Tenth Book – The Mind to Hermes. | XI |
| The Eleventh Book – Of the Common Mind to Tat. | XII |
| The Twelfth Book – His Crater or Monas. | IV |
| The Thirteenth Book – Of Sense and Understanding. | IX |
| The Fourteenth Book – Of Operation and Sense. | ? |
| The Fifteenth Book – Of Truth to His Son Tat. | ? |
| The Sixteenth Book – That None of the Things that are, can Perish. | VIII |
| The Seventeenth Book – To Asclepius, to be Truly Wise. | XIV |
Interesting point: “the first book” is Van Rijckenborghs (see later) fifth book and “the fifteenth book” is the same as seventeen of Van Rijckenborgh. Both books are Stobaeus fragments as we saw earlier. Everards 15th book is Stobaeus IIA.
Next version is that of G.R.S. Mead, whose translation can be found online on several pages, like this one or as PDF here. Mead has only 13 treatises which are part of a collection of “Hermetic texts”.
| I. Poemandres, the Shepherd of Men | I |
| II. To Asclepius | II |
| III. The Sacred Sermon | III |
| IV. The Cup or Monad | IV |
| V. Though Unmanifest God Is Most Manifest | V |
| VI. In God Alone Is Good And Elsewhere Nowhere | VI |
| VII. The Greatest Ill Among Men is Ignorance of God | VII |
| VIII. That No One of Existing Things doth Perish, but Men in Error Speak of Their Changes as Destructions and as Deaths | VIII |
| IX. On Thought and Sense | IX |
| X. The Key | X |
| XI. Mind Unto Hermes | XI |
| XII. About the Common Mind | XII |
| XIII. The Secret Sermon on the Mountain | XIII |
Jan van Rijckenborgh wrote a series of four books with different Hermetic texts and his extensive commentaries. He has the Tabula Smaragdina and 17 treatises of the Corpus Hermeticum. According to Van Lamoen, Van Rijckenborgh used the 1706 German translation of a certain Alethophilius who on his turn used the Patrizi and Van Beyerland translations. Van Rijckenborgh sticked to the alternative order, but still comes out differently from Everard.
There is an English translation of the books, but I haven’t seen them, so the translations of the titles are again my own.
| Het eerste Boek: Pymander |
I |
| The first Book: Pymander | |
| Het tweede Boek: Pymander tot Hermes | XI |
| The second Book: Pymander to Hermes | |
| Het derde Boek: Dat het grootste kwaad in de mensen is, dat zij God niet kennen | VII |
| The third Book: That the biggest evil in mankind is, that they do not know God | |
| Het vierde Boek: Hermes’ rede ter ere Gods | III |
| The fourth Book: Hermes’ oration to God’s honour | |
| Het vijfde Boek: Uit een rede van Hermes tot Tat | ? (1) |
| The fifth Book: From an oration of Hermes to Tat | |
| Het zesde Boek: Algemene dialoog tussen Hermes en Asklepios | II |
| The sixth Book: General dialogue between Hermes and Asklepios | |
| Het zevende Boek: Hermes tot Tat over de Crater en de Eenheid | IV |
| The seventh Book: Hermes to Tat of the Crater or Unity | |
| Het achtste Boek: Hermes tot zijn zoon Tat: Dat de onzienlijke God het meest openbaar is | V |
| The eight Book: Hermes to his son Tat: That the invisible God is most public | |
| Het negende Boek: Dat niets van hetgeen werkelijke bestaat verloren gaat, maar dat men in dwaling de veranderingen vernietiging en dood noemt | VIII |
| The ninth Book: That nothing that excists shall parish, but that by mistake people call changes destruction and death | |
| Het tiende Boek: Dat het Goede alleen in God en nergens anders te vinden is | VI |
| The tenth Book: That Goodness is in God alone and nowhere else | |
| Het elfde Boek: Over het verstand en de zintuigen | IX |
| The eleventh Book: Of intellect and senses | |
| Het twaalfde Boek: De sleutel van Hermes Trismegistos | X |
| The thirteenth Book: The key of Hermes Trismegistos | |
| Het dertiende Boek: Hermes Trismegistos tot Tat: Over het algemene Gemoed of de Heiligende Geest | XII |
| The thirteenth Book: Hermes Trismegistos to Tat: About the general Mind or the Holy-making Spirit | |
| Het veertiende Boek: De geheime Rede op den Berg, betreffende de wedergeboorte en de belofte van stilzwijgendheid | XIII |
| The fourteenth Book: The secret Oration on the Mountain, about rebirth and the promise of silence |
|
| Het vijftiende Boek: Hermes Trismegistos tot Asklepios: Over het juiste denken | XIV |
| The fifteenth Book: Hermes Trismegistos to Asklepios: about the right thinking | |
| Het zestiende Boek: Hermes tot Ammon: Over de Ziel | XVI |
| The sixteenth Book: Hermes to Ammon: About the Soul | |
| Het zeventiende Boek: Hermes tot Tat: Over de Waarheid | ? (2) |
| The seventeenth Book: Hermes to Tat: On Thruth |
(1) Van Rijckenborghs fifth book is the same as the first book (even before Poimandres) of Everard.
(2) Van Rijckenborghs seventeenth book is the same as the fifteenth of Everard.
The last version of the Corpus Hermeticum that I want to mention is that of Copenhaver. I got his index from Amazon.com,
but it is rather boring as you can see:
| Corpus Hermeticum I | I |
| Corpus Hermeticum II | II |
| Corpus Hermeticum III | III |
| Corpus Hermeticum IV | IV |
| Corpus Hermeticum V | V |
| Corpus Hermeticum VI | VI |
| Corpus Hermeticum VII | VII |
| Corpus Hermeticum VIII | VIII |
| Corpus Hermeticum IX | IX |
| Corpus Hermeticum X | X |
| Corpus Hermeticum XI | XI |
| Corpus Hermeticum XII | XII |
| Corpus Hermeticum XIII | XIII |
| Corpus Hermeticum XIV | XIV |
| Corpus Hermeticum XVI | XVI |
| Corpus Hermeticum XVII | XVII |
| Corpus Hermeticum XVIII | XVIII |
To close off I want to give you a comparative table:
| official order | Schagen | Van Beyerland | Everard | Mead | Van Rijckenborgh | Copenhaver |
| I | I | I | ? (1) | I | I | I |
| II | II | XI | I | II | XI | II |
| III | III | VII + III |
III | III | VII | III |
| IV | IV | II | X | IV | III | IV |
| V | V | IV | V | V | ? (1) | V |
| VI | VI | V | VI | VI | II | VI |
| VII | VII | VIII | XIII | VII | IV | VII |
| VIII | VIII | VI | VII | VIII | V | VIII |
| IX | IX | IX | II | IX | VIII | IX |
| X | X | X | XI | X | VI | X |
| XI | XI | XII | XII | XI | IX | XI |
| XII | XII | XIII | IV | XII | X | XII |
| XIII | XIII | XIV | IX | XIII | XII | XIII |
| XIV | ? | ? | XIII | XIV | ||
| XVI | XV | ? (2) | XIV | XVI | ||
| XVII | VIII | XVI | XVII | |||
| XVIII | XIV | ? (2) | XVIII |
(1) and (2) these books are the same, but can’t be found in most other versions of the Corpus Hermeticum, they are Stobaeus fragments, see text about the Everard translation above.
So now you can check if Everard or Van Rijckenborgh write: “the fourth book of Hermes says…”.
<2/11/03>
<12/11/03 first update: I found one more Van Rijckenborgh treatise and I got a few of his titles correct now>
<13/11/03 second update: three Hermetic scriptures added>
<17/11/03 the Hermetic texts section is enormously enlarged after the release of the book De Hermetische Schakel (the Hermetic link) of Jacob Slavenburg>
<19/11/03 now all Van Rijckenborg titles are correct>
<26/11/03 minor changes after an email of mr Slavenburg>
<03/12/03 “Minerva Mundi” added>
<10/12/03 I got myself the textual history of the CH of Frank van Lamoen and made the final (?) changes to the second part>
<11/12/03 final changes?>
<11/09/05 Schagen vertaling added>