Theos-Talk Archives (July 2001 Message tt00289)

Dallas wrote:

Re: The VOICE OF THE SILENCE (HPB)

There are in existence (that I have seen in the THEOSOPHY COMPANY library):

1st Printing (edition) H.P.Blavatsky was alive (1889 & 1890)
2nd Printing (edition) H. P. Blavatsky was alive (1892, London)
3rd, A Printing in New York supervised by Mr. Judge (1893, 1899)
issued after H.P.Blavatsky’s death by THE PATH

1931 THEOSOPHY COMPANY issued a reprint of the 1893 New York printing. And
has used it ever since.
========================

Dear Dal and Daniel,

When we examined this question about alterations to the Voice of the Silence
sometime last year, the following information came to light.

The many changes to the text were made in the 2nd Edition (1892, London). I
believe these were done by Mead & Besant. HPB was dead at that time, having
died the year before, 1891. I think Dal has made a simple mistake as to the
date of HPB's death in his notes above.

As far as I know, the 3rd Edition (1893) contains all the alterations that
were made to the 2nd Edition (1892). So we might well conclude this 3rd
Edition was based on the 2nd Edition (with its changes by Mead and Beasant)
rather than on the original. Perhaps no one at the time suspected there
were changes. Hence the later 1931 Edition by the Theosophy Company (based
on the 3rd Edition) also carried the same alterations as the 2nd Edition and
has done so ever since.

I hope the above helps.

...Peter