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Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition

Attributed to Jean d’Espagnet

The Secret Work of the Hermetic Philosophy

A Fresh English Translation from the Complete 1623 Latin Arcanum

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The Secret Work of the Hermetic PhilosophyThe 138 Canons · Canon 65

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The 138 Canons · Canon 65

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Latin

Praeter signa illa decretoria, quae materiae radicitùs inhaerent & mutationes eius essentiales indicant, infiniti penè alii colores illudunt, & in vaporibus, velut iris in nubibus, se exhibent, qui brevi effluunt, & per succedentes delentur, aërem magis quàm terram afficientes: Eorum levis operanti cura esse debet, quia permanentes non sunt, neque ab intrinsecâ materiae dispositione proficiscuntur, sed ab igne quidlibet ad nutum vel etiam casu in tenui humido per colorem pingente ac fingente.

English

Besides those decisive signs, which are rooted in the matter and indicate its essential changes, almost countless other colours play deceptively and display themselves in the vapours like a rainbow in clouds. They soon pass away and are effaced by those that follow, affecting the air more than the earth. The practitioner should pay them little heed, for they are not permanent and do not proceed from the matter's inward disposition, but from fire painting and fashioning anything at will, or even by chance, through colour in a tenuous moisture.

About This Reading Edition

The complete anonymous 1623 Arcanum, conventionally attributed to Jean d’Espagnet, with Latin and a fresh English translation, 138 canons, original marginalia and errata, 88 modern annotations, separately identified historical reception documents, and the complete supplied Diotimos study apparatus.

Historical Text and Translation

Anonymous, Arcanum hermeticæ philosophiæ opus. Paris: Nicolas Buon, 1623. Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon copy, digitised by Google Books, uJNr_M9LDGgC. Conventionally attributed to Jean d’Espagnet; the original title page is anonymous.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

Historical texts are public-domain works. The supplied 2026 fresh English translation, Latin reading transcription and Diotimos editorial material are published with the site owner’s authorization. The historical Signifer is credited to the Getty Research Institute copy and Internet Archive.