Hermes in the Jar: The Hermetic Texts in the Nag Hammadi Library
Near the end of Codex VI of the Nag Hammadi library, a scribe stops copying and writes a note to whoever ordered the book. It reads a lot like the sticky note you’d leave on a stack of photocopies for a coworker: “I have copied this one of his discourses. A great many have come into my hands, but I have not copied them because I thought they were already in your possession. I even hesitate to copy these things for you, since perhaps you may already have received them and the matter may annoy you.” ...