Kessinger Publishing Stobaeus: An Extract From The Discourses Of Hermes Trismegis

Since the product description is minimal, there were a few pleasant surprises here.First, the product photo for the softcover needs to be updated, because it currently shows a dismal waitingroom-chair blue, but in actuality it matches the robust epic design on the hardcover version (as shown in my photo).The second surprise was that the first half of the book inexplicably includes an entire translation of the Asclepius, one of the major hermetic works, as you probably know if you've arrived here.The 2nd half of the book is where the hermetic Stobaeus excerpts begin, again there's no introduction about what the Stobaeus is, it's just bare bones facsimiles. It does include a helpful chart breaking down the amount & sources of the excerpts, which includes citations from the Corpus Hermeticum and the Perfect Discourse.You'll notice throughout, that every other page includes the original Latin or Greek- Latin for the Asclepius and Greek for the Stobaeus. So that was the 3rd surprise, because it's uncommon to see original material, and it just looks cool.I'm very pleased with the Stobaeus excerpts themselves, I don't recognize these words from other Hermetic writings, and several of them are substantial. A must read for fans of Hermetica.Based on the chart I mentioned, not all of the excerpts are included here, the book stops at number XIII, but the chart mentions excerpts up through XXIX (29) and some excerpts from the Corpus Hermeticum 2, 4, & 10.The missing excerpts xiv-xxix are regarding: Hermes to Ammon, Hermes, Isis to Horus, & Apothegm verses.So I'm not sure why these aren't included, but I guess this text gets 4 stars for being the only affordable option out there, providing at least some kind of hard copy version of the Stobaeus excerpts, an Asclepius, and the original languages.So just be mindful of that, and it's probably most valuable to those who don't already possess a version of the Asclepius.Edit: after having studied the hermetica much further since acquiring this, I must suggest to the reader that instead of getting this, you instead get Walter Scott's 1924 “Hermetica, Vol. 1”[ https://amzn.to/3UlaUAd ] which contains not only the complete Stobaeus, but also the Asclepius, the corpus hermeticum, and the Greek and Latin manuscripts that go along with them all. (this present kessinger text is actually just an excerpt from that very book, as one can garner from the first pages).it is more expensive of course, but you will get all the classic hermetica in one place.Another option if you're seeking Stobaeus is GRS Mead’s Thrice Greatest Hermes where he also translates the whole hermetica into English, including some commentary and extensive prolegomena. that's an even more affordable option than Scott. [ https://amzn.to/3UEPwWG ]