The Kingship of Self-Control is an inspiring and motivating manual which instructs on the behavior best suited for attaining happiness and a steady, fulfilling existence. Much as with William Jordan's other books, this work advocates that the reader should train his thought processes and senses to the point where they are masters of their own destiny. The reader can spot the difference between this book's practical advice and what is gained from formal education, which instils only dry facts and mostly unusable knowledge in students. The author, working in the high octane urban landscapes of both his native New York City and Chicago, noticed certain maladies of the human condition. Many people he met were worrisome (which Jordan terms 'the American disease') and would needlessly over-complicate or over-rationalize things in their heads. The phenomena of regret, whereby people wish over and over to have another chance of life, is another thing Jordan condemns as self-defeating.

This complete edition of the Corpus Hermeticum, which introduces in eighteen chapters the religious and philosophical principles of Hermetics, was translated by G. R. S. Mead. Hermetics is a religious, philosophical, and esoteric practice based around the beliefs and writings of the pagan priest Hermes Trismegistus. Influential for its distinct beliefs and characteristics, Hermeticism carried a profound influence over the Renaissance in Europe. Many Christian believers paid it heed, with much art depicting the Hermetic belief system appearing between the 14th and 17th centuries in particular. Notably, Hermetics claims to be a descended version of the prisca theologia - a principle which affirms there is but one, true theology in the world. This essence of the divine is present in all religions, and was according to legend given to mankind in distant antiquity. This belief, discussed by Hermes Trismegistus, has led many scholars of philosophy and religion to examine Hermetics in detail.