Theos-Talk Archives (September 2002 Message tt00019)

As the literary executor for the estate of the late Dr John Cooper, I am 
able to reply to the enquiries regarding the status of his unpublished 
work on the collected correspondence of H.P. Blavatsky. The first volume, 
as yet in draft form, remains unpublished. The dispute between the 
Theosophical Publishing House at Wheaton (or, more accurately, Dr John 
Algeo) and John's family, remains unresolved since neither Dr Algeo nor 
his attorney replies to my correspondence. The family is eager to see the 
work published as John compiled and intended it to be, but has refused to 
relinquish all editorial control to Dr Algeo (or the TPH). John 
specifically and deliberately included a clause in his contract with TPH 
to prevent anyone from engaging in authorized editing, censoring, 
tampering with or altering the material he had collected. It is the 
family's position (supported by the advice or attorneys in Australia and 
the USA) that under the contract this right has now passed (together with 
ownership of the copyright of the manuscript) to John's beneficiaries. It 
appears that Dr Algeo argues that, with John's death, all rights now lie 
with the TPH (i.e. him) and that they/he will edit the work as they see 
fit without any consultation with the family. Proposals put to Dr Algeo 
and his attorney in my last letter to resolve this impasse have yet to 
receive a response. These proposals asked only that any editorial change 
be approved by the family, and indicated that normal publishers' rights 
to make stylistic changes or to add explanatory material would not be 
opposed. The family will not, however, approve the deletion of any 
material from the original Blavatsky correspondence; it will not object 
to notes which question the authenticity of material which is genuinely 
in question. Negotiations are thus proceeding with other publishers to 
see the first volume put into print, albeit (and undesirably) not within 
the H.P.B. Collected Writings series. With regard to the material which 
John collected for subsequent volumes (and which had been collated but 
was not edited or commented upon prior to his death), the family claims 
some control only over that material which John collected independently 
and on his basis of his own research, or material which was specifically 
given to him (i.e. not given to the TPH or provided by them, or which is 
already in the public domain). We have offered complete cooperation, 
including the provision of copies of material, to Dr Algeo and the TPH 
for the completion of the Collected Correspondence series subject only to 
(i) the rights referred to with regard to the first volume, and (ii) 
recognition of the rights to material independently collected. Apart from 
threats of legal action should the family proceed with publishing the 
first volume, no response has been received. We would prefer to see the 
first volume published in the near future by the TPH in the Collected 
Writings series, and would cooperate in any way possible to facilitate 
this - BUT the family will not surrender all proprietry rights in and 
editorial control over John's original work. If Dr Algeo and the TPH have 
no interest in "tampering" with the original material in a less than 
honest or scholarly way, I cannot understand why a cooperative and 
collaborative venture cannot proceed. Having dealt with a number of 
publishers, I have never faced the rigid and uncooperative approach being 
taken by the TPH.
Dr Gregory Tillett