Theos-Talk Archives (January 1998 Message tt00130)

David Green wrote:

> An email correspondent from NY state
> wrote yesterday telling that she
> heard Dr Gommes had copies of W Judge's
> letters from the Indian archives?
>

I also keep hearing the same story in different versions.  Sometimes the
story goes that he has copies, sometimes I hear that he has through some
miracle stolen the originals from the archives.  No, to the best of my
knowledge it is not true that Mr. Gomes has either the originals or copies
of these Judge letters, and all of this gossip and speculation is counter
productive anyway.  Even when one is given access to the Adyar archives,
that does not mean that one has to a xerox machine.  Theft is a major
problem in India, so it follows that the managers of the Adyar library and
archives have taken major steps to prevent this from happening.  The
procedure in the Adyar library for looking at books and manuscripts is much
like that used in the Library of Congress.  One fills out a request slip and
wait until an employee goes into a restricted area to bring the book or
document out to the reader.  The patron reads it there, and one may not
leave the room with it.  But unlike the Library of Congress,  there are no
self serve copying machines.  If one wants a copy, one must fill out another
request form, submit it with the original.  An employee will take the item
and request slip into another restricted area where the copy is made (for a
fee).  Needless to say, since the Adyar archives management does not wish
the Judge letters to be published,  obviously they are not going to permit
them to be copied either.

> Can Jerry or someone confirm this?
> Will they be published?
>

See above.  Whether they will be published is a question that only the
person in charge of them can answer.  So far the answer has been no.

> 2 months ago Jerry wrote that Dr
> Gommes had told him what these
> letters contained.  Can Dr
> Gommes or Jerry give an
> overview of what was in these
> Judge letters?
>

That isn't what I wrote.  I previously stated that I had discussed the
letters with Mr. Gomes.  In that post, I already shared my conclusions
concerning those conversations, so there is no need to repeat them here.

I believe it is important to keep in mind that Mr Gomes does historical
research and has in the past generously published many previously
unavailable documents concerning  Judge and other aspects of TS history.  I
think we ought to be grateful that we have someone like him to give of his
talents and skills.  God knows that if he were doing this work for material
compensation, he would do much better selling hamburgers at McDonalds.
Further,  I don't feel that it is fair to expect or even ask him or any
other writer to make public statements concerning research until it is ready
to be published.  I'm certain that Mr. Gomes would much prefer to be left to
do his research and writing in peace.  In the mean time,  I feel that the
more important and appropriate question to ask is why the Adyar TS is
unwilling to publish these letters.

JJHE