Theos-Talk Archives (May 2005 Message tt00511)

http://www.teosofia.com/Docs/vol-5-8.pdf

Hey,

Having just discovered this publication this month, I'm intrigued by 
the current cause celebre. Turn to page 21 for information about 
an "H.P. Blavatsky Defense Fund" being established in order to 
publish a competing Volume I of the Letters of H.P. Blavatsky, the 
Adyar version of which ULTers confidently assert contains twenty 
forgeries.

The lead article indicates the level of evidence and reasoning that 
lead to this conclusion about forgery. (I have not scanned earlier 
issues to see if anything else on this topic rises to a higher 
standard.) As best I can make out, the bottom line is deducing facts 
from desires:
1. These letters put HPB in a bad light.
2. We don't want HPB to be put in a bad light.
3. Therefore they are forgeries.
4. And therefore we will launch a crusade against their editor.

Now, I do see some problems with the way the Letters were edited, as 
pointed out by Pat Deveney. To suppress recognition of Joscelyn 
Godwin's research, presumably because of guilt by association with 
SUNY Press and yours truly, is disgusting. But I must admit that 
Algeo, Caldwell, Eklund, et al have shown a lot of courage and 
integrity in admitting these controversial letters into the volume. 
It is interesting that Radha is specifically stated *not* to have 
supported this publication. This supports my hypothesis that she is 
a wholehearted opponent of intellectual freedom and genuine 
scholarship in the TS whereas Algeo has a lot of ambivalence about it.

I can save ULTers $10,000 with a simple suggestion about how to 
accomplish the same result for free. Buy copies of the Adyar 
edition, but razor out the offending pages and black out all 
references to them in the notes, index, etc. Resell the "cleaned up" 
version and readers will see clear evidence of the censorious mindset 
in action. But they won't see the accursed "forgeries."

It has come to my attention that my fellow librarian Daniel Caldwell 
has been on the receiving end of hate mail from fundamentalist 
Theosophists for his role in this publication. Schadenfreude is 
wicked, and I try not to get any pleasure from this development, 
hoping simply that it is a learning experience for him. The lesson 
to be learned? Spend a decade fanning the flames of fundamentalist 
fanaticism -- and you might end up getting burned. 

Cheers,

Paul