The Secret Doctrine (book)

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The First Volume of The Secret Doctrine came off the Press on October 20, 1888. The first printing of 500 copies were exhausted before date of publication. The Second Volume is out towards the end of the year.

Writing

In May 1879, soon after moving to India, H. P. Blavatsky started designing a new book on Theosophy that would eventually become The Secret Doctrine.

In January 1884 the Supplement to The Theosophist published an advertising announcing that "a New Version of Isis Unveiled", which was to be published in monthly. Although Mme. Blavatsky had some written material to start the monthly installments, this never came to fruition in the way planned, due to ill-health, her travel to Europe, and the Coulomb affair.

In the fall of 1885, a few months after HPB moved to Wurzburg, Germany, she started working steadily on its writing. The Countess Wachtmeister moved with HPB to help her in this endeavor. As the writing of the book developed with the help of Masters M. and K.H., HPB realized it was much more than a rewriting of Isis Unveiled. In a letter to A. P. Sinnett she said she felt that this could vindicate the Theosophical Society after the unfavorable Report that Hodgson made.[1]

In the spring of 1886 she sent a preliminary manuscript of the first volume to Adyar, where T. Subba Row was supposed to read it and contribute in what had to do with Hindu philosophy. However, he refused to do so. HPB moved to Ostende, Belgium, where she continued working on the book.

By the end of March 1887 she fell gravely ill with a kidney infection. She was not expected to live. Master M. came at night and asked her if she wanted to be freed from the body or live, amidst much suffering, or live and finish The Secret Doctrine. She agreed on finishing the book. On May 1, 1887, she moved to London where a group of earnest students would help her finish and publish her book.

The First Volume of The Secret Doctrine came off the Press on October 20, 1888, while the Second Volume was out towards the end of the year.

Editions

  • First edition in 2 vol., 1888. The first volume was published on October 20. The second volume was published towards the end of the year. Both volumes have a greyish binding bearing in the usual place the imprint: Theosophical Publishing Co., Ltd., London. They bear the inscriptions: Printed by Allen Scott and Co., 30, Bouverie Street, E.C.—facing the title-page; and facing the dedication: Entered at Stationer’s Hall. All Rights Reserved.
It seems that the sheets of the First Volume, most likely folded, were sent to W. Q. Judge in New York. The American edition was published in a dark brown and a dark blue binding, and bears the inscription: “Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1888, by H.P. Blavatsky, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C.”— facing the dedication.[2]
  • Second edition in 2 vol., 1888. The 500 copies of the first printing of volume 1 were sold before date of publication to advance subscribers. This was followed by an immediate second impression, erroneously called “second edition.” It was only a second printing from the same plates.[3]
  • Third and revised edition in 2 vol., 1893. In 1895 an index to v. 1 & 2, 3rd and rev. ed. was published, substantially expanded from previous "Index to v. 1 & 2" in vol. 2.
This edition was reprinted in 1902, 1903, 1905, 1908, 1911, 1913, 1918, 1921, and 1928.
  • First edition of Volume 3, 1897. Reprinted 1910, 1913
  • First reprint of the 1895 Index, 1911. Includes the index for vol. 3, separately paged.
  • Fourth (Adyar) edition, 6 vol., 1938.
  • Fifth (Olcott) edition, 6 vol., 1946.
  • Sixth (Adyar) edition, 6 vol., 1971. With orange & white book jackets.

Wurzburg manuscript

The Würzburg Manuscript of The Secret Doctrine was finally published in 2014 by David and Nancy Reigle. According to the editors:

It includes H. P. Blavatsky’s first translations of stanzas from the Book of Dzyan with her unrevised commentaries on them. Only the stanzas from the Würzburg manuscript had been published until now, not her unrevised commentaries on them. These comprise cosmogenesis, and a few on anthropogenesis. The Würzburg manuscript also includes a large introductory section, comprising about half the book. Most of the chapters in this introductory section were later published in the 1897 third volume of The Secret Doctrine. As with the commentaries on the stanzas, here we have her unrevised versions.

The so-called Würzburg manuscript is a partial copy of Blavatsky’s early manuscript of The Secret Doctrine, written while she was staying at Würzburg, Germany, and then at Ostende, Belgium, in 1885 and 1886. Her manuscript of the almost completed Secret Doctrine was copied by two or more scribes to send to India for revision by T. Subba Row, which revision did not occur. Only part of this copy has been found. What we have is estimated to be about a fourth or a third of the whole that was sent to India. Fortunately, it includes the whole cosmogenesis section, all seven stanzas and their commentaries.[4]

Online resources

Articles and pamphlets

Books

Audio

Video

Other resoruces

Additional resources

Notes

  1. ↑ A. Trevor Barker, The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett Letter No. CXVI, (Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1973), 79.
  2. ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 157-158.
  3. ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 158.
  4. ↑ Posting by David and Nancy Reigle to Theos-Talk discussion group. May 5, 2014.
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