Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tt00174)

W. Dallas TenBroeck <dalval@nwc.net> writes
>1n 1893 under the editorship of Annie Besant and G.R.S.Mead a
>"third and Revised edition of the SD was issued with over 40,000
>alterations made by them which HPB never saw or authorized. The
>type was at that time entirely reset.

I am told by a reliable source (Mr. R.A.Gilbert, Bristol, UK) that
Mead's contribution to this edition was mainly by way of the verification
and - where necessary - corrections of HPB's very many notes and
footnotes, a task for which he was particularly qualified as having been
HPB's secretary. Other variations in the text and the order of the text
may be due to Annie Besant's influence - perhaps someone has
documentation originating from the period(s) in question which can
throw light on this matter?

On a personal note, I found that Isis Unveiled was a far more useful and
informative source of theosophical ideas, with the exception of the
Stanzas of Dzyan, which have been published on their own, and are
well worth contemplating in that form if one has already some concept
of what the "ancient wisdom" is attempting to convey.

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A.M.Bain, D.D.