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'''ARTICLE UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''
[[File:WIZARDS - Mythical Monsters and other works.jpg|right|240px|thumb|Books by Wizards Bookshelf]]
<br>
'''Wizards Bookshelf''' was a publishing house operated by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Blavatsky]] scholar Richard Robb. The company was founded in Minneapolis in 1972, and later moved to San Diego, California. It continued producing books until 2006[?].
'''ARTICLE UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''
<br>


'''Blavatsky portraits and photographs'''
== The Secret Doctrine Reference Series ==
[[File:HPB collage.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Frontispiece of ''World Theosophy'', September, 1931]]
These are photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other depictions of '''[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]]''', also known as HPB. They are presented chronologically by date of creation, as much as possible. Individual renderings and small groups are included, but not large group photos.


This collection of photos was inspired by a display on the '''Theosophy Canada''' website in 2005, "A Pictorial Look at H. P. Blavatsky," which has more recently evolved into a slide show. Many thanks go to the '''Edmonton Theosophical Society''' for the inspiration and the research that went into its collection.
=== History of the series ===
<ref>John Algeo turned "A Pictorial Look at H.P. Blavatsky" into a PDF file that he printed out. A copy is in the John Algeo Papers, Records Series 08.12, Theosophical Society in America Archives, and that was the impetus for this project. The URL was http://www.theosophycanada.com/bios/HPB_Bio.htm. It was printed on June 18, 2005. A backup is available on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20051105023559/http://www.theosophycanada.com/bios/HPB_Bio.htm Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive], for the date November 5, 2005.</ref><ref>Slide show called "HP Blavatsky - A Pictorial Biography" is available at [http://www.theosophycanada.com/hp-blavatsky-a-pictorial-biography.php Theosophy Canada], along with individual photographs. Accessed November 13, 2018.</ref>


Images used here are scanned from the photo collection of the [[Theosophical Society in America]], the '''[http://blavatskyarchives.com/hpbphotos.htm Blavatsky Archives]''', and other sources, which are identified where possible, with copyright data if applicable. Additions and corrections are welcome.  
Mr. Robb wrote about the beginnings of Wizards Bookshelf in ''Sunrise'' in November 1975:
<blockquote>
''The Secret Doctrine'' was written for the Western world to stem the tide of abject materialism. No messenger made his appearance in glowing aura to impress the multitude and, if he had, he would probably have been completely ignored. Instead, we have a book designed to gain acceptance in the minds of thinking men for many long years to come. The form and content of the S.D. is such that the student is constantly referred to the thoughts and ideas of hundreds of authors, all of whom are generally tending in the same direction.
 
Some people have claimed that the 750 and more books cited are merely proofs. But what are proofs? If these references are by sheer weight of numbers designed to force people to believe the validity of the teachings developed in the S.D., then surely the exposition could have been far more explicit and detailed, thus removing from the mind of the inquirer any chance of doubt. But this is not the case. As stated in the Preface, there is simply not room enough to explain the complete scheme of nature in two volumes. It would take a thousand volumes. Moreover, the ideas expressed are often obscure to the Western mind, because we have no background. Background in these areas is best supplied by the very sources that are used, and the reader will discover that there are perhaps 40 or 50 out of the 750+ books referred to that are mentioned with regularity.
When I first became interested in The Secret Doctrine, an interest that was fostered by happenstance — an encounter with a copy of The Mahatma Letters in a small bookstore in New Orleans — I felt the work was utterly impossible, that there was little chance that I would ever be able to understand it. However, I found parts so interesting that I continued to read. Whole paragraphs passed without the least bit of comprehension, but occasionally a page really made sense to me.
 
That was in 1965. Several people told me that the S.D. could not be read per se, but used only as a sort of dictionary or reference work. Be that as it may, I started and read the entire two volumes all the way through. When I had finished, two things were uppermost in my mind: first, that I was utterly ignorant; and secondly, that my education had left me totally unprepared for the study of The Secret Doctrine. Here was a range of knowledge that required effort and scholarly endeavor, books that I had never heard of before, whole subject areas that were foreign to me. As it turned out, I really was motivated to begin my education over again. And in so doing I set out to find some of the books quoted or referred to in the S.D. Of course, these were rather scarce and I didn't locate them immediately. However, after a time I discovered a copy of ''The Source of Measures'' on a used book list and sent away for it. The parts of [[J. Ralston Skinner|Skinner's]] treatise that I did understand were an absolute revelation to me. "Why," I thought, "hadn't the Masons made a point of preserving this text, so rare and valuable as it is?" Inquiries of local Masons indicated that they possessed little knowledge of the subject matter. At length, I became convinced of the absolute necessity of preserving the text of ''The Source of Measures'', regardless of cost or its public acceptance. Some day, somewhere, there would be men who would fasten upon these ideas. Though utterly unacquainted with the publishing industry, I did finally succeed in reprinting 535 copies. Response to advertisements was nonexistent. However, a few copies were sold, and I was encouraged to the extent that I considered a second title — ''The Book of Enoch''. Since then the list of titles has steadily grown.


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;  width:90%;"
Thus the "Secret Doctrine Reference Series" (published by Wizards Bookshelf) came into being. It is fundamentally designed to guarantee future generations access to the ideas contained in the already rare and difficult-to-obtain titles of past centuries. These works, if hard to find today, will be impossible to locate a hundred years from now.
|-
There are many whose spiritual longing and philosophical inquiry are too sacred to be exposed among strangers or even among friends who they suspect may have entirely different views. The fact is, it is the written word that allows the student the privacy of his own thoughts, that gives rise to the most profound aspirations and the most intuitive insights It is literature, then due to its impersonal character, its relative permanence and its very silence, that has motivated us.
! Photograph or Art Work
! Year Created
! Artist
! Notes
|-
| [[File:H.Hahn and H.Blavatsky.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |Late 1840s
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | Painting of young H. P. Blavatsky and her mother, H. Hahn. It is at the '''[[H. P. Blavatsky House-Museum|H. P. B. museum in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine]]'''. The painter is unknown, but it may have been HPB herself.
|-
| [[File:Lovely Maiden portrait of HPB.jpg|200px]]
| 1840s
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | HPB painted as "The Lovely Maiden."
<blockquote>
The reproduction was made by means of a special process from a printed copy which was first published in [[A. P. Sinnett|Sinnett's]] book "Incidents in the Life of Mme. Blavatsky." The print was from a medallion painting, which had been sent to Nadyejda de Fadeyev (as related when her photograph was shown.<ref>Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.</ref>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
This portrait appears in a collage as the frontispiece of [[World Theosophy (periodical)|''World Theosophy'']] in September 1931.
 
|-
Richard Robb wrote of [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's]] work '''[[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']]''':  
| [[File:HPB young in furs.jpg|200px]]
| 1850s
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | Young HPB dressed in furs.
|-
| [[File:HPB in hoop skirt JPEG.jpg|200px]]
| 1860s
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | HPB in a hoop skirt.
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
Most likely the picture about which General Rostislav wrote: "taken 20 years ago in my presence." September 18, 1881.<ref>Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.</ref>
''The Secret Doctrine'' is a timeless synthesis of philosophy, science, religion, history and metaphysics; its bibliography of over 1,000 books and journals draws upon many languages, and it has been called the most abstruse work in English.<ref>Richard Robb email to Michael Conlin. October 29, 2023. Theosophical Society in America Archives.</ref>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


This portrait appears in a collage as the frontispiece of [[World Theosophy (periodical)|''World Theosophy'']] in September 1931.
{|style="margin: 0 auto;"
|-
| [[File:Wizards_Bookshelf_MEC_set.jpg|400px|center|thumb|SD Reference Series with Blavatsky books. Owned by Michael Conlin]]
| [[File:HPB - NY.JPG|200px]]
|}
| 1870s
=== List of titles in the series ===
| Napoleon Sarony?
 
| style="text-align:left;" | H. P. Blavatsky in New York days, from [http://blavatskyarchives.com/hpbphotos.htm Blavatsky Archives].
* '''''The Divine Pymander of Hermes''''' translated from Arabic by John Everard.
|-
* '''''The Virgin of the World: Hermes''''' translated by Dr. Anna Kingsford.
| [[File:HPB portrait 9.jpg|200px]]
* '''''The Book of Enoch the Prophet''''' translated from Ethiopie by Richard Laurence.
| 1870s
* '''''Esoteric Budhism''''' by A.P. Sinnett. 1885 edition with annotations.
| Unknown
* '''''The Origin & Significance of the Gt Pyramid''''' by C. Staniland Wake.
| style="text-align:left;" | Photograph reproduced in [[A. P. Sinnett|A. P. Sinnett's]] ''Incidents in the Life of Mme. Blavatsky.''<ref>Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.</ref>
* '''''The Eleusinian & Bacchic Mysteries''''' translated by Thomas Taylor, notes by Alex Wilder.
* '''''The Chaldean Account of Genesis''''' translated from Cuneiform tablets by George Smith.
* '''''Sacred Mysteries Among the Mayas & Quiches''''' by Augustus LePleongeon.
* '''''The Theosophist: Volume I''''' edited by H.P. Blavatsky. 320p.
* '''''On the Mysteries: Iamblichus''''' translated by Thomas Taylor.
* '''''The Desatir''''' (1818) translated by Mulla Firuz bin Kaus.
* '''''The Pythagorean Triangle''''' by George Oliver.
* '''''Key to the Hebrew-Egyptian Mystery in the Source of Measures, + index & notes''''' by J. Ralston Skinner.
* '''''The Gnostics & Their Remains''''' by Charles W. King.
* '''''Mythological Astronomy of the Ancients Demonstrated''''' by Samson Arnold Mackay. Revised 2nd edition 1826.
* '''''The Zohar (Bereshith)''''' translated by Nurho de Manhar
* '''''Theon of Smyrna: Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato''''' translated by Robert & Deborah Lawlor.
* '''''Surya Siddhanta (Hindu astronomy)''''' translated by E. Burgess & W.D. Whitney.
* '''''New Platonism & Alchemy''''' by Dr. Alexander Wilder.
* '''''The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac''''' by T. Subba Row.
* '''''Plato: Cratylus, Phaedo, Parmenides, Timaeus, & Critius''''' translated by Thomas Taylor. (1793 edition, reset).
* '''''Ancient Fragments of the Egyptian Phoenician, etc.''''' translated by I.P. Cory. 1832 edition.
* '''''Posthumous Humanity''''' by Adolphe D'Assier translated by Henry S. Olcott.
* '''''The Anugita''''' translated by K.T. Telang.
* '''''Mythical Monsters''''' by Charles Gould.
* '''''Life & Teachings of Paracelsus''''' by Dr. Franz Hartmann.
* '''''The Qabbalah''''' by Isaac Myer, intro by H.P. Blavatsky.
* '''''Sepher Yetzireh''''' translated by W. W. Westcott.
* '''''Sod, the Sun of Man''''' by S.F. Dunlap.
 
== Other books published ==


This portrait appears in a collage as the frontispiece of [[World Theosophy (periodical)|''World Theosophy'']] in September 1931.
* '''''Astronomy & Astrology of the Babylonians''''' by A.H. Sayce.
|-
* '''''Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on H.P. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine'''''.
| [[File:HPB drawing from NYPL Digital Collection.jpg|200px]]
* '''''The Lost Fragments of Proclus''''' translated by Thomas Taylor.
| 1870s
* '''''The Books of Kiu-Te in the Tibetan Buddhist Tantras''''' by David Reigle.
| Unknown
* '''''H.P. Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine''''' by Max Heindel.
| style="text-align:left;" | From [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-9d43-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 New York Public Library Digital Collection].
|-
| [[File:HPB portrait from NYPL.jpg|200px]]
| 1870s
|Charles T. Scowen
| style="text-align:left;" | From [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-c17c-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 New York Public Library Digital Collection].
|-
| [[File:HPB by spiritualist photographer.jpg|200px]]
| 1874
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | Portrait by a spiritualist photographer.
|-


| [[File:HPB by Beardsley 1875 smoking.jpg|200px]]
== Notes ==
| September 1875
<references/>
| J. Beardsley
| style="text-align:left;" |Photograph taken in Ithaca NY in September 1875 while HPB was visiting [[Hiram Corson|Professor Hiram Corson]] and writing [[Isis Unveiled (book)|''Isis Unveiled'']].<blockquote>In an undated letter, written to Professor H. Corson, H.P.B. wrote about the photographs Beardsley had taken: The important factor here is that H.P.B. actually ordered two dozen portraits made of this special photograph. "When will Beardsley send me the rest of my portraits? Please order from him two dozen more of those with the cigarette in the hand, only bigger, if he can do them. I will enclose you a post office order for eighty-five dollars in my next; if you answer me, that he is at work on them. I suppose by the thirteen dollars he, too, charged me for the three dozen, that every extra dozen will be four twenty-five. Will you inquire please?"<ref>Eugene Rollin Corson, ''Some Unpublished Letters of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky'' (London: Rider & Co., 1929), 171.</ref><ref>Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.</ref>
</blockquote>
|-
| [[File:HPB by Beardsley 1875 standing.jpg|200px]]
| September 1875
| J. Beardsley
| style="text-align:left;" |Another photograph taken in Ithaca NY in September 1875 while HPB was visiting [[Hiram Corson|Professor Hiram Corson]] and writing [[Isis Unveiled (book)|''Isis Unveiled'']]. It appeared as the frontispiece of the November, 1928 issue of [[The Theosophist (periodical)|''The Theosophist'']] as "An Unpublished Photograph of H.P.B. about 1879," but that year is incorrect.
|-
|  [[File:HPB portrait Edsall Studio.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1876-1878
| Edsall Photographic Studio
| style="text-align:left;" | Taken in New York.
|-
| [[File:HP Blavatsky 1877.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1877
| Napoleon Sarony
| style="text-align:left;" | Taken in New York and used as a frontispiece in early editions of [[Isis Unveiled (book)|''Isis Unveiled'']].<ref>Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.</ref>
|-
| [[File:HPB with feather hat.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | ca 1877-1878
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" |
|-
| [[File:HPB with fur sash.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1878
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" |
|-
| [[File:Bronze medallion.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1878
| [[William R. O'Donovan]]
| style="text-align:left;" | Bronze medallion sculpted by William R. O'Donovan, who knew visited Madame Blavatsky and [[Henry Steel Olcott|Colonel Olcott]] at [[The Lamasery]]. His friendship and the medallion are described by Olcott in [[Old Diary Leaves (book)|''Old Diary Leaves'']], Volume 1, pages 411-412.
|-
| [[File:HPB in 1880s.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1878-1879
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | Fragment of a larger photograph.
|-
| [[File:HPB in 1881.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1881
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" |
|-
| [[File:HPB ca1882.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |ca1882
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | From [https://blavatskytheosophy.com/blavatsky-defeats-an-atheist/ BlavatskyTheosophy.com].
|-
| [[File:HPB with Subba Row and Babaji.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1882-1884
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | HPB with [[T. Subba Row]] and [[Babaji]] ca 1882-1884. From [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-9d42-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 New York Public Library Digital Collection].
|-
| [[File:HPB portrait.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1884-1885
| [[Hermann Schmiechen]]
| style="text-align:left;" | Fragment of painting by [[Hermann Schmiechen]].
|-
| [[File:HPB Schmeichen portrait.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1884-1885
| [[Hermann Schmiechen]]
| style="text-align:left;" | Larger version of painting by [[Hermann Schmiechen]]. This portrait appears in a collage as the frontispiece of [[World Theosophy (periodical)|''World Theosophy'']] in September 1931.
|-
| [[File:HPB reading book JPEG.jpg|200px]]
| 1887
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | Photo of HPB reading a book "while residing in Maycot, Crownhill, Upper Norwood, London, at [[Mabel Collins|Mabel Collins']] home She left Ostend for London, May 1, 1887."<ref>Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.</ref> Scanned by Theosophical Society in Archives.
|-
| [[File:HPBphoto.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1887
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | Detail from a larger portrait of HPB with a fan, which appears in a collage as the frontispiece of [[World Theosophy (periodical)|''World Theosophy'']] in September 1931.
|-
| [[File:HPB with fan.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |possibly 1887
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | HPB with a fan.
|-
| [[File:1888 Kodak photo by W Q Judge.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1888
| [[William Quan Judge]]
| style="text-align:left;" | This view is of HPB at her desk at 17 Landsdowne Road, London, taken by [[William Quan Judge]] with a Kodak camera as she was working on [[Lucifer (periodical)|''Lucifer'']]. The picture was originally published in [[The Path (periodical)|''The Path'']], New York, Vol. VII, May, 1892, p.39."<ref>Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.</ref> Mr. Judge wrote of the occasion:
<blockquote>
[No photographs] were obtained of her as she paused in her work until in 1888 this little photograph seized her, after consent, just as she was beginning the day’s work on ''Lucifer'', then in its babyhood. She had, only a short while before, come out from the room behind her and sat down at the desk on which the first pages of ''Lucifer'' were begun and whereon most, if not all, of ''The Secret Doctrine'' was written. The pen in her hand is an American Gold pen given to her by a New York Theosophist and made by John Foley, whose name is known to thousands of writers. The sheet of paper in front is a sheet of the MSS. of ''The Secret Doctrine'', and others lie about.<ref>William Quan Judge, ''Echoes of the Orient Volume 1'' Second edition (Pasadena: Theosophical University Press, 2009), 262. Compiled by Dara Eklund.</ref>
</blockquote>
This copy of the photograph was provided courtesy of Will Thackara at International Theosophical Society (Pasadena); restoration of photo by Vladimir Krasnoperov.
|-
| [[File:HPB_and_family.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1888
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | Taken October, 1888 in London. HPB is seated next to her sister, Vera de Zhelihovsky. Standing behind them are [[Vera Johnston]], [[Charles Johnston]], and [[Henry Steel Olcott]]. 
|-
| [[File:HPB and HSO final meeting JPEG.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1888
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | H. P. Blavatsky and [[Henry Steel Olcott]] in their final meeting, taken in October 1888 in London.
<blockquote>
In the photographic reproduction in ''Collected Writings'', X, 176; shows the following handwritten message by H.P.B.: 'To the [[Aryan Theosophical Society]] of New York, with H.P.B.'s and the H.S.O.'s good wishes', London, October, 1888.<ref>Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.</ref>
</blockquote>
|-
| [[File:HP Blavatsky 1.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | January 8, 1889
| [[Enrico Resta]]
| style="text-align:left;" | "The Sphinx" pose - the most famous image of HPB. This was taken in [[Enrico Resta|Resta's]] studio at 4 Coburg Place, Bayswater, London on [[January 8]], 1889. Six glass plates were taken altogether; in some HPB is looking to the side or is holding a cigarette. The originals are now located in the Archives of the Blavatsky Lodge of the Theosophical Society in England, with duplicates at Elliott & Fry, Ltd. in London. Image from the Theosophical Society in America Archives, scanned from Elliot & Fry print.


This photograph has been printed in publications more than any other. Among the first was [[The Path (periodical)|''The Path'']] in February, 1890.
[[Category:Publishing companies|Wizards Bookshelf]]
|-
| [[File:HPB smoking.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | January 8, 1889
| [[Enrico Resta]]
| style="text-align:left;" | This is another of the six poses taken in [[Enrico Resta|Resta's]] studio at 4 Coburg Place, Bayswater, London on [[January 8]], 1889.
|-
| [[File:Resta portrait 3.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | January 8, 1889
| [[Enrico Resta]]
| style="text-align:left;" | This is another of the six poses taken in [[Enrico Resta|Resta's]] studio at 4 Coburg Place, Bayswater, London on [[January 8]], 1889. From [http://blavatskyarchives.com/hpbphotos.htm Blavatsky Archives].
|-
| [[File:Resta portrait 4.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | January 8, 1889
| [[Enrico Resta]]
| style="text-align:left;" | This is another of the six poses taken in [[Enrico Resta|Resta's]] studio at 4 Coburg Place, Bayswater, London on [[January 8]], 1889. From [http://blavatskyarchives.com/hpbphotos.htm Blavatsky Archives].
|-
| [[File:HPB with Mead and Pryse.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1890
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" |HPB sitting in a bath-chair, with [[G. R. S. Mead]] (right) and [[James Morgan Pryse]]. Taken in London.
|-
| [[File:HPB in bath-chair.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" |1890
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" |HPB sitting in a bath-chair. This portrait appears in a collage as the frontispiece of [[World Theosophy (periodical)|''World Theosophy'']] in September 1931.
|-
| [[File:HPB in white lace.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1890-1891
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | HPB in a white lace shawl holding a copy of [[The Path (periodical)|''The Path'']]. Probably the last photo taken of her. This portrait appears in a collage as the frontispiece of [[World Theosophy (periodical)|''World Theosophy'']] in September 1931.
|-
| [[File:HPB death mask.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1891
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | Side view of death mask of HPB as printed in May 1991 issue of [[The Theosophist (periodical)|''The Theosophist'']].,
|-
| [[File:HPB death mask front.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1891
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | Front view of death mask of HPB, as printed on the cover of the May 1913 issue of [[The American Theosophist (periodical)|''The American Theosophist'']].
|-
| [[File:Borglum_portrait_of_HPB.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | ca1889-1909
| [[Gutzon Borglum]]
| style="text-align:left;" | Painted for his Theosophist father by the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, copied from the Resta photograph. This painting hangs in the Meditation Room in the [[L. W. Rogers Building|headquarters building]] of the [[Theosophical Society in America]]. It was painted between 1889 and 1909, when the father died.
|-
| [[File:HPB engraving by P Vishnevsky.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | ca1893
| P. Vishnevsky
| style="text-align:left;" | This engraving is from the Russian book «Загадочные племена на Голубых горах в дебрях Индии. Дурбар в Лагоре». СПб, 1893. (''Mysterious Tribes from the Blue Mountains in the Deep of India; Durbar in Lahor'', St.Peterburg, 1893.) Thanks go to Oleg Boldyrev and Pavel Malakhov for providing it. The location of the original art is unknown.
|-
| [[File:HPB from Posthumous Memoirs.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | ca1896
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | This is the cover art for a purported autobiography dictated from beyond the grave by Madame Blavatsky, '''''Posthumous Memoirs by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky'''''. Joseph M. Wade, in the preface to this work, described how the spirit of George W. Stephens operated a typewriting machine designed by G. W. N. Yost, whose spirit supervised the operation. The typewriter was enclosed in a cabinet placed a few feet away from a medium who was connecting with HPB. Published in Boston by Jos. M Wade and in London by H. A. Copley 1896. Available from [https://cdn.loc.gov/service/gdc/dcmsiabooks/po/st/hu/mo/us/me/mo/ir/00/wa/de/posthumousmemoir00wade/posthumousmemoir00wade.pdf Library of Congress]. The image may be an automatic drawing.
|-
| [[File:Founders stature in Adyar.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1907
| Govinda Pillai
| style="text-align:left;" | This statue stands in the Great Hall of the Headquarters Building in Adyar, Chennai, India. "[[Henry Steel Olcott|The Colonel]] stands beside H. P. Blavatsky, who is seated, with his hand on her shoulder, an upright, robust figure, with venerable beard and strongly cut features." The statue was unveiled on [[December 7]], 1907." Colonel Olcott had died on [[February 17]] of that year, and the unveiling was an occasion to honor him and his work with Madame Blavatsky. Tribute addresses were given by [[S. Subramania Iyer|Sir S. Subramania Iyer]], Mr. V. C. Seshachariar, Dr. W. A. English, Mr. P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, Mr. Sitarama Shastri, [[Marie Russak|Mrs. Russak]], and [[Annie Besant]].<ref>"The Unveiling of Colonel Olcott's Statue," ''World Theosophy'' 2.12 (December, 1932), 634-636.</ref>
|-
| [[File:Helder_-_Sketch_of_HPB.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1931
|[[Z. Vanessa Helder]]
| style="text-align:left;" | Sketch published in [[World Theosophy (periodical)|''World Theosophy'']] vol. 1 no. 8, August 1931, p. 599.
|-
| [[File:Fake of HPB with Ascended Masters.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 1930s-1950s
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | This is a FAKE photo of HPB with the "Ascended Masters." See [https://blavatskytheosophy.com/the-fake-photo/ "The Fake Photo"] at BlavatskyTheosophy.com website for more information.
|-
| [[File:HPB drawings from 1850s photo.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | Unknown, before 2000s
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left;" | This pencil drawing was made from the 1850s photograph. It was scanned from a reproduction of the pencil drawing in Theosophical Society in America Archives.
|-
| [[File:Blavatsky HP - stature with sphynx.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 2000s
| Unknown
| style="text-align:left; |
|-
| [[File:Blavatsky HP - head (A.Leonov) 1.jpg| 200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 2015-2016
| Alexey Leonov
| style="text-align:left;" |
|-
| [[File:Blavatsky HP - head (A.Leonov) 2.jpg|200px]]
| style="height:100px; width:100px; text-align:center;" | 2000s
| Alexey Leonov
| style="text-align:left;" | In 2015-2016, bronze versions of this pose were installed at the [[Theosophical Society (Adyar)|Theosophical Society]] headquarters in Adyar, Chennai, India, and at the [[International Theosophical Centre]] in Naarden, The Netherlands. These installations were facilitated by Dialogue of Cultures - United World Fund.
|-

Latest revision as of 16:23, 26 April 2024

Books by Wizards Bookshelf

Wizards Bookshelf was a publishing house operated by Blavatsky scholar Richard Robb. The company was founded in Minneapolis in 1972, and later moved to San Diego, California. It continued producing books until 2006[?].

The Secret Doctrine Reference Series

History of the series

Mr. Robb wrote about the beginnings of Wizards Bookshelf in Sunrise in November 1975:

The Secret Doctrine was written for the Western world to stem the tide of abject materialism. No messenger made his appearance in glowing aura to impress the multitude and, if he had, he would probably have been completely ignored. Instead, we have a book designed to gain acceptance in the minds of thinking men for many long years to come. The form and content of the S.D. is such that the student is constantly referred to the thoughts and ideas of hundreds of authors, all of whom are generally tending in the same direction.

Some people have claimed that the 750 and more books cited are merely proofs. But what are proofs? If these references are by sheer weight of numbers designed to force people to believe the validity of the teachings developed in the S.D., then surely the exposition could have been far more explicit and detailed, thus removing from the mind of the inquirer any chance of doubt. But this is not the case. As stated in the Preface, there is simply not room enough to explain the complete scheme of nature in two volumes. It would take a thousand volumes. Moreover, the ideas expressed are often obscure to the Western mind, because we have no background. Background in these areas is best supplied by the very sources that are used, and the reader will discover that there are perhaps 40 or 50 out of the 750+ books referred to that are mentioned with regularity. When I first became interested in The Secret Doctrine, an interest that was fostered by happenstance — an encounter with a copy of The Mahatma Letters in a small bookstore in New Orleans — I felt the work was utterly impossible, that there was little chance that I would ever be able to understand it. However, I found parts so interesting that I continued to read. Whole paragraphs passed without the least bit of comprehension, but occasionally a page really made sense to me.

That was in 1965. Several people told me that the S.D. could not be read per se, but used only as a sort of dictionary or reference work. Be that as it may, I started and read the entire two volumes all the way through. When I had finished, two things were uppermost in my mind: first, that I was utterly ignorant; and secondly, that my education had left me totally unprepared for the study of The Secret Doctrine. Here was a range of knowledge that required effort and scholarly endeavor, books that I had never heard of before, whole subject areas that were foreign to me. As it turned out, I really was motivated to begin my education over again. And in so doing I set out to find some of the books quoted or referred to in the S.D. Of course, these were rather scarce and I didn't locate them immediately. However, after a time I discovered a copy of The Source of Measures on a used book list and sent away for it. The parts of Skinner's treatise that I did understand were an absolute revelation to me. "Why," I thought, "hadn't the Masons made a point of preserving this text, so rare and valuable as it is?" Inquiries of local Masons indicated that they possessed little knowledge of the subject matter. At length, I became convinced of the absolute necessity of preserving the text of The Source of Measures, regardless of cost or its public acceptance. Some day, somewhere, there would be men who would fasten upon these ideas. Though utterly unacquainted with the publishing industry, I did finally succeed in reprinting 535 copies. Response to advertisements was nonexistent. However, a few copies were sold, and I was encouraged to the extent that I considered a second title — The Book of Enoch. Since then the list of titles has steadily grown.

Thus the "Secret Doctrine Reference Series" (published by Wizards Bookshelf) came into being. It is fundamentally designed to guarantee future generations access to the ideas contained in the already rare and difficult-to-obtain titles of past centuries. These works, if hard to find today, will be impossible to locate a hundred years from now. There are many whose spiritual longing and philosophical inquiry are too sacred to be exposed among strangers or even among friends who they suspect may have entirely different views. The fact is, it is the written word that allows the student the privacy of his own thoughts, that gives rise to the most profound aspirations and the most intuitive insights It is literature, then due to its impersonal character, its relative permanence and its very silence, that has motivated us.

Richard Robb wrote of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's work The Secret Doctrine:

The Secret Doctrine is a timeless synthesis of philosophy, science, religion, history and metaphysics; its bibliography of over 1,000 books and journals draws upon many languages, and it has been called the most abstruse work in English.[1]

SD Reference Series with Blavatsky books. Owned by Michael Conlin

List of titles in the series

  • The Divine Pymander of Hermes translated from Arabic by John Everard.
  • The Virgin of the World: Hermes translated by Dr. Anna Kingsford.
  • The Book of Enoch the Prophet translated from Ethiopie by Richard Laurence.
  • Esoteric Budhism by A.P. Sinnett. 1885 edition with annotations.
  • The Origin & Significance of the Gt Pyramid by C. Staniland Wake.
  • The Eleusinian & Bacchic Mysteries translated by Thomas Taylor, notes by Alex Wilder.
  • The Chaldean Account of Genesis translated from Cuneiform tablets by George Smith.
  • Sacred Mysteries Among the Mayas & Quiches by Augustus LePleongeon.
  • The Theosophist: Volume I edited by H.P. Blavatsky. 320p.
  • On the Mysteries: Iamblichus translated by Thomas Taylor.
  • The Desatir (1818) translated by Mulla Firuz bin Kaus.
  • The Pythagorean Triangle by George Oliver.
  • Key to the Hebrew-Egyptian Mystery in the Source of Measures, + index & notes by J. Ralston Skinner.
  • The Gnostics & Their Remains by Charles W. King.
  • Mythological Astronomy of the Ancients Demonstrated by Samson Arnold Mackay. Revised 2nd edition 1826.
  • The Zohar (Bereshith) translated by Nurho de Manhar
  • Theon of Smyrna: Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato translated by Robert & Deborah Lawlor.
  • Surya Siddhanta (Hindu astronomy) translated by E. Burgess & W.D. Whitney.
  • New Platonism & Alchemy by Dr. Alexander Wilder.
  • The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac by T. Subba Row.
  • Plato: Cratylus, Phaedo, Parmenides, Timaeus, & Critius translated by Thomas Taylor. (1793 edition, reset).
  • Ancient Fragments of the Egyptian Phoenician, etc. translated by I.P. Cory. 1832 edition.
  • Posthumous Humanity by Adolphe D'Assier translated by Henry S. Olcott.
  • The Anugita translated by K.T. Telang.
  • Mythical Monsters by Charles Gould.
  • Life & Teachings of Paracelsus by Dr. Franz Hartmann.
  • The Qabbalah by Isaac Myer, intro by H.P. Blavatsky.
  • Sepher Yetzireh translated by W. W. Westcott.
  • Sod, the Sun of Man by S.F. Dunlap.

Other books published

  • Astronomy & Astrology of the Babylonians by A.H. Sayce.
  • Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on H.P. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine.
  • The Lost Fragments of Proclus translated by Thomas Taylor.
  • The Books of Kiu-Te in the Tibetan Buddhist Tantras by David Reigle.
  • H.P. Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine by Max Heindel.

Notes

  1. Richard Robb email to Michael Conlin. October 29, 2023. Theosophical Society in America Archives.