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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 42

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The 138 Canons · Canon 42

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Latin

In philosophicâ Mercurii sublimatione sive praeparatione primâ Herculeus labor operanti incumbit; nam sine Alcide expeditionem Colchicam frustrà tentasset Iason;

Alter inauratam noto de vertice pellem Principium velut ostendit, quod sumere possis; Alter onus quantum subeas.

limen enim à cornupetis belluis custoditur, quae temerè accedentes non sine dispendio arcent; earum ferocitatem sola Dianae insignia & Veneris columbae mulcebunt, si te fata vocant.

English

In the philosophical sublimation of mercury, or first preparation, a Herculean labour falls upon the practitioner: without Alcides, Jason would have attempted the expedition to Colchis in vain.

One points from a familiar height to a gilded skin, as though to a beginning you may take; the other, to how great a burden you undertake.

For the threshold is guarded by horn-butting beasts, which drive away those who approach rashly, at no small cost to them. Only Diana's emblems and Venus's doves will soothe their ferocity, if the fates call you.

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.