Henry T. Edge

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Dr. Henry Travers Edge was an English Theosophist and personal pupil of Madame Blavatsky. He joined the staff of the Point Loma community, where he taught many subjects at the Theosophical University.

Personal life

Dr. Edge's friend Iverson L. Harris gave this biographical sketch:

Henry T. Edge was born at Cubbington, near Leamington, Warwickshire, England, January 6, 1867. He died at the International Headquarters of The Theosophical Society (Point Loma), then located at Covina, California, on September 19, 1946. His father: Francis Edge, a Clergy man of the Church of England; his mother, Cecilia Tarratt Edge. He was educated at Malvern College, England, from 1880 to 1886; thereafter at King's College, Cambridge.

Henry T. Edge's first acquaintance with Theosophy was on July 15, 1887, when he read A.P. Sinnett's Occult World in the Library of Cambridge University, where he was matriculated. Late that same year he visited H.P. Blavatsky at 17 Lansdowne Road, Holland Park, London, N.W.; and in 1888 he received his diploma of fellowship in The Theosophical Society, signed by H.S. Olcott, President, and A.J. Cooper-Oakley, Secretary. Shortly thereafter he became a personal pupil of H.P.B.'s and was entrusted by her with private literary and office duties, which he continued to perform until her death on May 8, 1891.

Mr. Edge's diploma was `Endorsed valid under the Constitution of The Theosophical Society in Europe' by William Q. Judge as President, on September 23, 1895.

In 1899 he resigned his post as Demonstrator in Practical Physics at the Royal College of Science, South Kensington, London, in order to accept Katherine Tingley's invitation to join the Theosophical Headquarters' Staff at Point Loma, California.

At Point Loma Dr. Edge taught Latin and Greek, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Geology. He also conducted classes in Isis Unveiled, The Secret Doctrine, and the Bible.

From 1888 until his death in 1946, Dr. Edge was an incredibly prolific contributor to various Theosophical periodicals, including H.P.B.'s Lucifer, the Point Loma weeklies, The New Century, The New Century Path and The Century Path (the three published in succession from September 30, 1897 to June 11, 1911); the monthly and later quarterly Theosophical Path (July, 1911 to October, 1935); The Theosophical Forum (published monthly, beginning in September, 1929, and contributed to by H.T.E. from 1929 until his death in 1946). As an illustration of his literary creativity, a collection of his contributions to The Theosophical Path between July, 1911 and December 1916 alone, under his own name or initials and under the pseudonyms H. Travers, T. Henry, Ariomardes, The Busy Bee, Magister Artium, T.H. and Student, includes 197 articles. He made numerous contributions defending H.P.B.'s memory, explaining her mission, and expounding her teachings continuously for more than half a century. Among his lengthier monographs are The Universal Mystery-Language and its Interpretation, Theosophical Light on the Christian Bible, and Manuals on Theosophy and Christianity, The Astral Light, and Evolution. All his writings reveal the sound, balanced judgment of Cambridge-trained scientist and scholar, illuminated by his life-long study and acceptance of Theosophy as he had learned it from H.P.B. and those who followed faithfully in her footsteps. His collected literary output would constitute a veritable Encyclopaedia Theosophica Edgiana.[1]

Writings

Mr. Edge wrote three of the Theosophical Manuals published in the 1930s: Evolution, The Astral Light, and Theosophy and Christianity. Other books and pamphlets include:

  • Studies in Evolution. Point Loma, CA: Aryan Philosophical Press, 1916. 32 pages. Papers of the School of Antiquity. University extension series # 8.
  • Esoteric keys to the Christian Scriptures; & the universal mystery language of myth and symbol. San Diego, CA: Point Loma Publications, 1973.
  • Point Loma's Literary Legacy. 3 volumes. Edited by Iverson Harris. Available at Hathitrust. San Diego, CA: Point Loma Publications, 1960-61.
  • The Science of Nature. Written with Oluf Tyberg. Covina, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1944. 79 pages. Theosophical University series # 6.
  • Some perverted presentations of theosophy corrected. Point Loma, CA: Aryan Theosophical Press, early 1900s. Path series # 5. 7 pages.
  • The universal mystery-language and its interpretation. Covina, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1943. 31 pages. Theosophical University series # 1.
  • Questionnaire on evolution: based on G. de Purucher's Man in evolution. Written with Gottfried de Purucker. Covina, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1943. 24 pages. Theosophical University series # 3.
  • Theosophical light on the Christian Bible . Covina, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1945. 38 pages. Theosophical University series # 7.
  • Man in evolution. Written with Gottfried de Purucker. Covina, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1947. 389 pages.

The Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals lists 72 articles by Henry T. Edge. Many are reprints in The Eclectic Theosophist and Theosophy World. Another 218 articles are listed under HT Edge. Those were published in several journals, but most were in The Theosophical Forum New Series 1929-1951. Numerous articles were also printed under various pseudonyms. Here are some article available online:

  • "Helena Petrovna Blavatsky," The Canadian Theosophist 41.2 (May-June, 1960), 26. This was a reprint from The Theosophical Path, November, 1913. Available at Katinkahesselink.net.

The Theosophical University Press Online offers this exceptional series from The Theosophical Forum of 1936-1937 on the symbolism of the Theosophical Seal:

A selection of the other Theosophical University Press articles serves to demonstrate the range of Edge's interests:

Additional resources

  • Greenwalt, Emmett A. California Utopia: Point Loma: 1897-1942 2nd revised edition San Diego, CA: Point Loma Publications, 1978.
  • "Edge, Henry Travers" in Theosopedia.

Notes

  1. ↑ Iverson L. Harris, "Henry Travers Edge" The Canadian Theosophist 41.2 (May-June, 1960), 47-48. Available online at KatinkaHesselink website.
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