Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Secret Work of the Hermetic Philosophy
A Fresh English Translation from the Complete 1623 Latin Arcanum
Explore the LexiconSwipe or use the arrow keys.
English Introduction · Branch 243 of 244
Source and Editorial Credits
English
Source and Editorial Credits
Primary Latin images: Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon, digitised by Google Books, volume uJNr_M9LDGgC. The Arcanum is the separately paginated part beginning with provider page RA1-PA1. Stable provider page names and locally recorded image hashes distinguish the physical sequence from misprinted historical headers. The complete source inventory accounts for title, preface, canons, correction leaf, blank leaves and binding surfaces.
Historical English sources: Getty Research Institute copy of the 1650 English collection, digitised through Internet Archive; Wellcome Library copy of the 1893 Collectanea Hermetica volume I, also available through Internet Archive. The reproduced figure comes from the 1650 reception material. The later Latin comparison was supplied by ETH-Bibliothek Zürich through e-rara. Historical attribution belongs to the catalogue tradition; the 1623 title’s anonymity is preserved.
Diotimos Editions supplies the new English translation, readable Latin transcription, modern annotations, introduction, essays, glossary, contextual lexicon and reading apparatus. AI-assisted transcription and translation were collated against the actual historical page images and reviewed separately before production. Machine recognition was a working aid rather than an authoritative text. Ambiguous marks and uncertain references remain identified.
The historical texts used here are public-domain works. New editorial writing and translation are distinct from those historical layers. The reading text contains the complete selected Arcanum. The edition does not purport to reproduce every work bound with it or every addition made in later collections.
Text fonts retain the established Diotimos design: TeX Gyre Pagella with Noto fallbacks for extended characters. Their applicable licences accompany the EPUB font resources. The PDF and Word share the established six-by-nine-inch page system; EPUBs reflow according to the reader’s settings.
Socrates
Reading The Secret Work of the Hermetic Philosophy · Source and Editorial Credits · Source and Editorial Credits
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.
- Governing historical Latin witnessGoogle Books: governing 1623 witness
- Historical reception diagram witnessInternet Archive: 1650 collection and Signifer
- Complete original supplied fileDownload the supplied PDF edition
- Complete original supplied fileDownload the supplied EPUB edition
- Complete original supplied fileDownload the supplied Word edition
- Complete original supplied fileDownload the supplied Markdown edition