Read enough to discover that this so-called root of the "Western esoteric tradition" is basically a Gnostic gospel = this book has nothing to do with either Greek or Egyptian religions, and simply regurgitates and rehashes bits and pieces of the New Testament with some Neo-Platonism and calls it magic. Useful for historical context only. ( )

I was expecting the Corpus Hermeticum to be more ethereal and focused on The All and collective consciousness. Maybe it was the translation, but this seemed very much to me to be early Christian teachings hidden under a thin veil of esoteric thought. I did appreciate the newly translated Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius though. It was a great collection of thoughts and observations. ( )

WAYS OP HERMES

A SURVEY OF THE EXHIBITIONS IN FLORENCE ЛND VENICE
Now IN AMSTERDAM

In recent years the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica mounted two
major exhibitions in Italy, in Florence (1999), and in Venice (2002). By
returning to the cradle of the Renaissance and searching for the presence
of Hermes in that period, a clearer picture has emerged of the development
of Hermetic philosophy through the centuries. The exhibitions
were organized in collaboration with two renowned libraries founded in
the Renaissance: the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence and the
Biblioteca Marciana in Venice. In all, more than 75,00o visitors to the two
exhibitions were able to take part in a journey through the history of th
Hermetica by seeing the sources, often unique manuscripts deriving from
one of the three libraries, in their historical context, thereby witnessing
the birth moment of the Corpus Hermeticum in the Renaissance.

The books and manuscripts in the present exhibition Ways of Hermes in
Amsterdam are a selection from a wealth of texts which were on show
the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence and in the Biblioteca Marciana in
Venice. These two libraries hold treasures such as the (incomplete) Greek
Corpus Hermeticum manuscript used by Ficino for his Latin translation
and also - not very well known - another Greek manuscript of this text,
complete this time, which had been purchased by Cardinal Bessariorn
some years before. All manuscripts and printed works testify to the con
tinuity of a Hermetic tradition which at various moments in time, before
and after Ficino, achieved a direct recognition: from the so-called
'Renaissance of the 12th century' to the Enlightenment, from Alanus de
Insulis to Paracelsus and the 'Gold- und Rosenkreuzer. The results achie
ved by the compiler of the original exhibitions, Carlos Gilly, are an
important step forward in the research initiated by pioneers like Paul
Oskar Kristeller and Frances Yates

The present exhibition and accompanying brief guide offer a first...