Theos-Talk Archives (May 2003 Message tt00114)

Dear Daniel,

My apologies for the belated response. A week in cyberspace is a lot longer time than a week in the "real world"! 

Thank you for your kind words about the publications of The Theosophy Company. You state your views clearly and concisely, and they parallel my own. Personally, I share your preference for the original texts whenever possible, as then I know I am reading what Blavatsky originally wrote and not someone else. However, since I know Dallas also shares that view, I am not sure to which of his statements you object. 

What might be open to interpretation would Dallas' view that changes made by William Q. Judge to a work originally published by H.P. Blavatsky are acceptable. It really comes down to how one views their relationship, and what value we place on Mr. Judge's works. HPB's writings contain a great many statements that indicate quite clearly that she held Judge in the highest regard. Since she wrote that Judge had been "a part of herself for aeons past," some of her students might take that to mean she tacitly allowed Judge free reign. 

"A Modern Panarion," has a different history, as I alluded to in my previous email. The Theosophy Company only printed the book as it had originally been published. I do not know if anyone at The Theosophy Company checked to see if HPB's articles therein matched "exactly" to the original magazine publications. 

I hope that this clarifies my position on this subject. 

Sincerely and Fraternally,
Wesley Amerman
President
The Theosophy Company
Los Angeles, California USA
(213) 748-7244



Message: 8
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 20:24:58 -0000
From: "Daniel H. Caldwell" <inquire@blavatskyarchives.com>
Subject: Wes on "Only the Originals" of HPB's Writings

Dear Wes,

Thank you for your email concerning the Theosophy Company and related matters.

First of all, my comments in my earlier posting were primarily directed to addressing the misleading statements made by Dallas.

Secondly, I clearly value many of the publications of the Theosophy Company. I recommend on my website the following TC publications:
http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/theosohyco.htm

The Theosophy Company is to be commended for producing photographic facsimiles of many of HPB's original works. Plus when THEOSOPHY magazine was founded in 1912, this forum provided serious Blavatsky students with reprints of HPB's articles which had become hard to find unless one had access to old issues of THE THEOSOPHIST, LUCIFER, etc.

Let me clearly state my view about HPB's books and articles. 

I have tried to study Blavatsky's writings and the teachings of Theosophy without undue regard for any of the existing Theosophical organizations including the ULT. I have read and used the publications of all the existings Theosophical groups and have tried to find books and articles that are helpful in understanding Blavatsky regardless of what organization or publisher issued the work.

But when I study HPB's writings I prefer to read her original writings as they were published during her lifetime. The main reason for this is that after HPB's death, various persons (Judge, Besant, Mead, de Zirkoff, etc.) have edited her writings making various changes, deletions and additions. Some of the changes have been minor and trivial. But some of the changes have been major and some of these changes and "corrections" have actually been wrong. 

Furthermore, the changes are usually NOT noted therefore the reader of these new editions has no EASY way to know what has been changed.

Wes, I ask you:

Which would you honestly prefer: (1) a photographic facsimile of one of HPB's originals writings as it was published during her lifetime or (2) a later edition of her book where her text has been edited, either by deletions, changes or additions? 

For example, take ISIS UNVEILED, I prefer to use the photographic facsimile of the original edition reprinted by the Theosophy Company. 

By saying that,I don't mean that the editions currently published by Theosophical University Press or Theosophical Publishing House are worthless. I ALSO use those editions for various purposes but I prefer using the photographic facsimile of the original for my primary study of that text.

The same applies to THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE. I prefer touse as my primary source the photographic facsimile of the VOICE published by Kessinger. The other editions of the VOICE published by Theosophy Company, Theosophical Publishing House and Theosophical University Press also have value but they are not photographic facsimiles of the original 1889 edition.

I could go down the whole list of HPB's works.

So Wes, what edition (original OR later edited) would you choose of the 2 above titles for your personal study?

More in a second posting.

Daniel

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