It is said that these teachings are records of private, intimate talks between a teacher and one or two of his disciples. The setting was in Egypt under the Roman Empire, among men who had received some instruction in Greek philosophy, and especially the Platonism of the period, but were not content with merely accepting and repeating the dogmas of the orthodox philosophic religion that would better satisfy their needs.

Included here are alchemical writings in Greek and Latin about the Hermetica, as well as addenda and indices compiled after Scott's death. Volumes I, II, and III of Hermetica, which contain Scott's translation, his notes on the Corpus Hermeticum, and his commentary on Asclepius and the Hermetic excerpts of Stobaeus, are also published by Shambhala.