Theos-Talk Archives (October 2006 Message tt00202)

Two correspondents have recently emailed me about the plagiarism 
charges against Madame Blavatsky.  

I give BELOW some important information PLUS some other sources to
consult for more information.  

Daniel
Blavatsky Study Center
http://hpb.cc

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John Patrick Deveney, the Theosophical historian, in the October 
2002 issue of THEOSOPHICAL HISTORY, writes about William Emmette 
Coleman's plagiarism claim against H.P. Blavatsky.

Deveney writes:

"His claim was that, while the learned QUOTATIONS from classical and
other sources in H.P.B.'s books would lead the reader to believe she
had read some 5,000 authors, in fact all of her references could be
found in approximately 100 easily available, second-hand sources.
This, Coleman, thundered, was plagiarism." Caps added (Theosophical
History, Oct. 2002, p. 272.)

Deveney's explanation here is indeed correct. 

Coleman himself writes:

"By careful analysis I found that in compiling Isis about 100 books
were used. About 1400 books are QUOTED from and REFERRED to in this
work; but, from the 100 books which its author possessed, she copied
everything in Isis taken from and relating to the other 1300. There
are in Isis about 2100 QUOTATIONS from and references to books that
were copied, at second-hand, from books other than the originals; and
of this number only about 140 are credited to the books from which
Madame Blavatsky copied them at second-hand." caps added.

Further, Coleman comments:

"Not a line of the QUOTATIONS in Isis, from the old-time mystics,
Paracelsus, Van Helmont, Cardan, Robert Fludd, Philalethes, Gaffarel,
and others, was taken from the original works; the whole of them were
copied from other books containing scattered QUOTATIONS from those
writers." caps added.

To be more specific, if you find a QUOTATION from Paracelsus in ISIS 
UNVEILED Coleman is contending that HPB did NOT go to the original 
works of Paracelsus to get Parcelsus' words. Instead she found the 
quotation (i.e, the words of Paracelsus plus the quotation marks) in 
a secondary work where that author had given the quote from 
Paracelsus. HPB then took the Paracelsus QUOTATION found in this
secondary work and incorporated the QUOTATION into her book or
article. Many times she did not indicate that the quotation was
taken from the secondary work.

Coleman confirms this over and over. Witness another example from
Coleman:

"The same thing obtains with her QUOTATIONS from Josephus, Philo, and
the Church Fathers, as Justin Martyr, Origen, Clement, Irenaeus,
Tertullian, Eusebius, and all the rest. The same holds good with the
classical authors, - Homer, Ovid, Horace, Virgil, Plato, Pliny, and
many others. The QUOTATIONS from all these were copied at second-hand
from some of the 100 books which were used by the compiler of Isis."
caps added.

Coleman says that HPB did the same when she was writing THE SECRET
DOCTRINE and her other works.

To repeat Deveney again:

"This, Coleman thundered, was plagiarism."

Now let us explore something else very much related to the above.

ISIS UNVEILED was published in 1877. So Madame 
Blavatsky's "plagiarism" [as Coleman called it] was done even prior 
to that date of publication. YET notice the following which happened 
in 1881.

The scholar Deveney writes:

"In the spring and summer of 1881, however, when he [Coleman] 
himself was accused of plagiarism [by W.H. Burr], Coleman's 
definition [of plagiarism] was RATHER DIFFERENT." !! caps added.

Deveney quotes Coleman's rebuttal to W.H. Burr's charges of
Coleman's plagiarisms.

Coleman wrote:

"Even were I guilty of what he [Burr] charges, it would not be
plagiarism. To quote extracts from other authors found in Mr. B
[urr]'s work is not plagiarism but to use Mr. Burr's own language or
ideas, without credit, is plagiarist. This I have not done, and Mr.
B. knows it."

A little latter in the same piece, Coleman makes a very SIGNIFICANT
statement and admission:

"It is ridiculously absurd to call it plagiarism to use quotations
from other writers, taken second-hand. All writers do it more or
less, Mr. Burr [himself] very largely, and no one else ever called it
plagiarism before."

Coleman's 1881 statements are given in Deveney's article.

I should point out here that by Coleman's 1881 STANDARD HPB was NOT
guilty of plagiarism in her 1877 work ISIS.

His own 1881 standard was made in defending himself against the 
charge of plagiarism. 

It was only in later years that Coleman apparently CHANGED his 
definition of plagiarism and started "thundering" the charge against 
HPB!

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For more information on William Emmette Coleman's life and the 
validity of his plagiarism charges against H.P. Blavatsky, consult 
the following sources:

Cranston, Sylvia. H.P.B.: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of 
Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement. New 
York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1993.  See Chapter entitled:  "Was She A 
Plagiarist?," pp. 379-387.
 
Deveney, John Patrick. "Sauce for the Goose: William Emmette 
Coleman's Defense to a Charge of Plagiarism". Theosophical History, 
October 2002, pp. 272-273.
 
Gomes, Michael. The Dawning of the Theosophical Movement. Wheaton, 
Illinois: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987.  See pp. 143-155.
 
Gomes, Michael. Theosophy in the Nineteenth Century: An Annotated 
Bibliography. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1994.  See pp. 493-
495 and 527-528.
 
But see also the recent discoveries that bring up other related 
aspects to the plagiarism charges :

Caldwell, Daniel H. "Parallel Columns: What Does This Mean?" 
Blavatsky Study Center, 2003. On the web at:
http://blavatskyarchives.com/voiceparallelcolumns.htm

Taylor, Richard P. Blavatsky and Buddhism. Blavatsky Net, 1999. See 
Chapter Two, "Blavatsky and 'Esoteric Buddhism.'" On the web at:
http://blavatsky.net/forum/taylor/tibetanSources10.htm