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[[File:WIZARDS - Mythical Monsters and other works.jpg|right|240px|thumb|Books by Wizards Bookshelf]]
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'''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[?].  
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<font size="4">'''H. P. Blavatsky Gem of the Day'''</font>
<br>
''' {{CURRENTDAYNAME}}, [[{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTDAY}}]], {{CURRENTYEAR}}
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----
----
<br>
All groups and individuals who respect the work of '''[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]]''' and her associates are invited to participate in building this wiki into a base of research for serious students everywhere. Our aim is to provide a platform for people interested in '''[[Theosophy]]''' and the [[Theosophical Movement]] to collaborate in assembling information that is accurate, well-documented, and helpful. '''If you want to contribute''' by creating articles or editing the existing ones contact the [[Help:Administrators|administrators]], or see the '''[[Theosophy Wiki:Community portal|Community Portal]]''' for more information.


<br>
== The Secret Doctrine Reference Series ==
<br>
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<div style=" font-size:130%; border:1px solid #ccc; background:#d8dfe8; margin:0; padding:.3em; color:#000;">Mahatma Letters Portal</div>
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{{Col-break|width=60%}}
[[File:KH Signature.jpg|210px|left]]
<br>
'''[[Mahatma Letters Portal|ENTER THE MAHATMA LETTERS PORTAL HERE]]'''<br>


{{Col-end}}
=== History of the series ===
Letters written by the [[Mahatmas]] are a rich resource to study the Ancient Wisdom, [[Theosophy]]. Texts of the letters with images and commentaries are available for these published collections of letters:
* [[The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (book)|''The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'']]
* [[Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom (book)|''Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom'']]
* [[Mrs. Holloway and the Mahatmas (book)|''Mrs. Holloway and the Mahatmas'']]
* [[Mahatma Letters that HPB kept]] &ndash; '''never before published!!!''' 
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Mr. Robb wrote about the beginnings of Wizards Bookshelf in ''Sunrise'' in November 1975:
<div style=" font-size:130%; border:1px solid #ccc; background:#d8dfe8; margin:0; padding:.3em; color:#000;">Blavatsky Portal</div>
<blockquote>
{{Col-begin|width=100%}}
''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.
[[File:HPBphoto.jpg|80px|left]]
[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] was co-founder of the [[Theosophical Society]] in 1875 with [[Henry Steel Olcott]], [[William Quan Judge]], and [[Founders|others]]. They brought the ancient teachings called [[Theosophy]] to the modern world.
<br>
{{Col-begin|width=100%}}
{{Col-break|width=50%}}
* [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Life of HPB]]
* [[Blavatsky resources|Resources related to HPB]]
* [[Blavatsky correspondence|Correspondence of HPB]]
* [[:Category:Associates of HPB|Associates of HPB]]
* [[Blavatsky writings|Writings of HPB]]
* [[Blavatsky photographs and portraits|Photos of HPB]]
{{Col-break|width=50%}}
* [[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']]
* [[:Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine|Concepts in ''The Secret Doctrine'']]
* [[Three Fundamental Propositions]]
* [[Stanzas of Dzyan]]
* [[H.P.Blavatsky's heritage in the modern world|Heritage in the Modern World]]


{{Col-end}}
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.


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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.
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<div style=" font-size:130%; border:1px solid #ccc; background:#d8dfe8; margin:0; padding:.3em; color:#000;">Categories in the Theosophy Wiki</div><div style="padding:.4em;">
Categories in the Theosophy Wiki help to group together people, places, and concepts that have some common characteristic. These are the major groups of categories:
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'''People:'''<br>
* [[:Category:People|All people]]
* [[:Occupations|Occupations]]
* [[:Category:Theosophical Groups and Places|Theosophical Groups and Places]]
* [[:Category:Other Groups|Other Groups]]  
* [[:Category:Famous people|Famous People]]
* [[:Category:Religious Affiliations|Religious Affiliations]]
* [[:Category:Nationalities|Nationalities]]
* [[:Category:Interests and Characteristics|Interests and Characteristics]]


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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.
'''Other Categories:'''<br>
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.
* [[:Category:Concepts and Terminology|Concepts and Terminology]]
</blockquote>
* [[:Category:Schools of Thought|Schools of Thought]]
* [[:Category:Events and history|Events and History]]
* [[:Category:Languages|Languages]]
* [[:Category:Mahatma Letters|Mahatma Letters]]
* [[:Category:Religions|Religions]]
* [[:Category:Publications and Art Works|Publications and Art Works]]
* [[:Category:Research tools|Research Tools]]
* [[:Category:Miscellaneous|Miscellaneous]]


{{Col-end}}
Richard Robb wrote of [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's]] work '''[[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']]''':
<blockquote>
''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>


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{|style="margin: 0 auto;"
| [[File:Wizards_Bookshelf_MEC_set.jpg|400px|center|thumb|SD Reference Series with Blavatsky books. Owned by Michael Conlin]]
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<div style=" font-size:130%; border:1px solid #ccc; background:#d8dfe8; margin:0; padding:.3em; color:#000;">Featured Article</div>
=== List of titles in the series ===
[[File:1888_Kodak_photo_by_W_Q_Judge.jpg|right|220px|thumb|HPB in 1888, photo by William Quan Judge]]
'''[[Mahatma_Letters_that_HPB_kept|Mahatma Letters that HPB kept]]''' is a group of ten letters that have never before been published. These letters are mostly written from [[A. P. Sinnett]] to [[Mahatma|Mahatmas]] [[Koot Hoomi]] and [[Morya]], asking questions or responding to their previous letters, with brief notations by KH and M. Historically they fill gaps in the published correspondence like [[The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (book)|''The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'']], giving the other side of the conversation.


[[File:Koot Hoomi.jpg|left|120px|left|thumb|Koot Hoomi]]
* '''''The Divine Pymander of Hermes''''' translated from Arabic by John Everard.
Topics covered include [[A. O. Hume]], the KH retreat, Sinnett's relationship with the Mahatmas, [[London Lodge]], [[Mary Gebhard]], [[Anna Bonus Kingsford]], the [[Phoenix Venture]], the [[Kiddle incident]], and the [[Coulomb affair]]. Two letters written by [[Samuel Ward]] and [[G. B. Finch]] discuss the leadership of the [[London Lodge]].  
* '''''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.


The significance of these letters is that the Masters instructed [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Madame Blavatsky]] to keep them. 
== Other books published ==
</table>


'''This Web site is made possible by generous grants from [[The Kern Foundation]] and support from the [[Theosophical Society in America]].
* '''''Astronomy & Astrology of the Babylonians''''' by A.H. Sayce.
[[es:]]
* '''''Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on H.P. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine'''''.
[[fr:]]
* '''''The Lost Fragments of Proclus''''' translated by Thomas Taylor.
[[ru:]]
* '''''The Books of Kiu-Te in the Tibetan Buddhist Tantras''''' by David Reigle.
[[it:]]
* '''''H.P. Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine''''' by Max Heindel.
 
== Notes ==
<references/>
 
[[Category:Publishing companies|Wizards Bookshelf]]

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.