Theos-Talk Archives (November 2006 Message tt00788)

Dear Daniel,

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "danielhcaldwell" 
<danielhcaldwell@...> wrote:

> The Theosophy Company publishers tell us that the 1893 edition ...
> 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?

I've heard this accusation for the first time around 10 years ago from 
Dallas Tenbroek.
I asked him to show at least one change which affects actual meaning. 
Nevertheless in all these years till his death I didn't receive from 
him any example.
I have found some alterations which improve English grammar and make 
text more easily readable, and that's all. These alterations cannot be 
compared with those in "Voice of Silence" to which you have shown.

By the way, do you know, is this assertion true?

"Mrs Finch said that Blavatsky asked two persons to make both edition 
and proof-reading of the Secret Doctrine; she came to them and threw 
them all the heap of the manuscript. Of course, there was a mass of 
errors due that. After the typesetting she wanted to make corrections, 
what was already impossible. Corrections on proofs would cost more 
than initial setting of the book." (Diary of Z. Fosdick, the pupil of 
Helena Roerich and later the director of the Roerich Museum in New 
York, record of 1928).

If it is true, did Blavatsky actually make corrections in the proofs, 
and where are they?