Theos-Talk Archives (November 2006 Message tt00782)

Why does the Theosophy Company publish 
Facsimile Editions of Some of HPB's Original Works?

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Let us look at the PUBLISHERS' PREFACE to the Theosophy Company's 
edition of THE SECRET DOCTRINE to see if we can find the answer to 
the more specific question:

In 1925 why did the Theosophy Company decide to publish "a perfect 
facsimile" of the original 1888 edition of THE SECRET DOCTRINE?

There were apparently at least 2 other editions of the SD in print at 
that time (1925).  

Why would those 2 editions not be sufficient for Theosophical 
students and the general reader?

The Theosophy Company publishers tell us that the 1893 edition [I 
assume the Besant-Mead edition that Carlos Aveline refers to] 
was "marred by many thousands of alterations, some of them trivial, 
some actual mutilations of the original text."  

How many of these thousands of changes were "trivial" as opposed to 
actual mutilations?  The publisher does not address that question.

The TC Publishers also tell us that ANOTHER edition of the SD [which 
I assume was the Tingley/Point Loma ed.] had been printed and this 
version was "virtually an accurate reproduction of the original text".

But the Publishers apparently STILL had serious reservations about 
the text of this edition.  Why?

It is mentioned that this edition was "printed from reset type."
What does that mean?  

That means that in this edition, some persons (or persons) had 
laboriously "reset" all of the type and of course by doing so, 
unintentional errors (typos, etc.) could enter into the text.

The TC Publishers also say that in this "reset" edition they found 
that "gratuitous 'corrections'" of H.P. Blavatsky's Sanskrit 
scholarship had been made.

Since the word "gratuitous" can mean "not called for by the 
circumstances: unwarranted", it would appear that the TC Publishers 
did NOT approve of these "corrections" of spelling of all the 
Sanskrit terms in HPB's 1888 text.

Concerning this "reset" edition, the TC Publishers conclude by saying 
that the "exact authenticity" of this edition "cannot be determined 
without LABORIOUS COMPARISON with the original" of 1888. [caps added.]

Of course, this comment also equally applies to the 1893 edition.  
Only a laborious comparison with the original would allow the reader 
and student to determine which of the thousands of alterations were 
actually "trivial" as opposed to those alterations that were "actual 
mutilations."

Notice also that the TC Publishers point out that the "original 
edition" of 1888 was THE ONLY EDITION authorized by Madame Blavatsky.

I assume that what is meant here is that the only edition that H.P. 
Blavatsky had editorial control and supervision over was the 1888 
ed..  In other words even though HPB had the help of several students 
when editing and proofreading the 1888 text, H.P. Blavatsky had the 
final control and say-so over the printed text of 1888.

Since these other editions were printed AFTER H.P.B. died, obviously 
she could not "authorize" them as she did the first edition.

In light of all the problems enumerated above, the Theosophy Company 
publishers apparently decided that it would be best to publish "a 
photographic reproduction of the original edition" of 1888. 
 
At the end of the Preface, the Theosophy Company editors EMPHASIZE 
the following two important points:

(1) "With the present printing of THE SECRET DOCTRINE, The Theosophy 
Company continues ITS FUNCTION of providing students and inquirers 
with UNALTERED editions of the original literature of the 
Theosophical Movement...." [caps added to the words "its function" 
and "altered".]

(2) "...this [Theosophy Company] edition is a perfect facsimile of 
the original edition and can be RELIED UPON as such."  [caps added]

The Theosophy Company has also reprinted UNALTERED editions of HPB's 
ISIS UNVEILED and THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. 

But what about THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE? 
 
In my next posting I will look at the Theosophy Company's edition of 
THE VOICE in light of the PROBLEMS that were discussed in this 
posting.

Daniel
http://hpb.cc