Theos-Talk Archives (August 2004 Message tt00552)

Hi all,

This is the type of trouble TPH-Adyar gets into, because it 'has 
changed insight' and yet feels compelled to keep these works 
available. 

Katinka
--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Morten N. Olesen" <global-
theosophy@a...> wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "gregory" <gregory@z...>
> To: <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 8:51 AM
> Subject: Theos-World Reprints are one thing, whitewashes another
> 
> 
> > The TPH published what are often described as "reprints" of 
Leadbeater's
> > books, but which should accurately (and in standard publishing, 
library
> > and bibliographical professional practice) be described 
as "revised",
> > "abridged" or "edited" versions. A typical example is found 
in "The
> > Masters and the Path" which was originally published in 1925. 
Anyone
> > lucky (?) enough to possess every edition of this work published 
by Adyar
> > and who has the patience to compare them will find very 
interesting and
> > careful editing. My copy of the 1953 version (2nd edition, 
revised and
> > enlarged, 4th printing) has those sections marked which are 
deleted from
> > the 1969 edition. For example, one sentence and the five words 
beginning
> > the next sentence in Annie Besant's "Foreword" have been 
deleted - they
> > refer to "the nearness of the Coming of the World Teacher" 
(which was,
> > after all, the reason Leadbeater gave for publishing the book). 
A few
> > further examples: 2 sentences from the opening of Chapter 1; half
> > sentence on page 40 referring to "when He comes forth to the 
world to
> > teach His people as He intends so to do very shortly..."; a 
paragraph on
> > page 43 referring to the Coming; one paragraph and part of 
another on
> > page 63 regarding the writing of "At The Feet of the Master"; a 
large
> > paragraph on the Masters' endorsement of Co-Masonry and the 
Liberal
> > Catholic Church on page 67; the whole secton headed "The Coming" 
from
> > page 255-257; the pargraph on Leadbeater's viewing of "Visitors" 
from
> > other solar systems on page 298; and so on.
> > What is described as the 3rd and 4th editions (1969 and 1983) are
> > described on the title page as "An Abridgement"; an abridgement 
does not
> > normally described a work from which particular passages are 
removed to
> > cobceal the original meaning of the author! Nor can 
an "abridgement" be
> > described as an "Edition."
> > Given that Leadbeater said the material in the book was only made
> > generally available bcause of the imminence of the Coming, and 
that he
> > openly, publicly and privately, proclaiming the imminence of the 
Coming
> > (and the details thereof), on what basis can such selective 
editing be
> > justified?
> >
> > Dr Gregory Tillett
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >