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Shroff, Kavasji Merwanji: A highly educated Parsi member in Bombay. In 1874 he lectured in the United States, and Col. Olcott traveled from Boston to New York to meet him. Unfortunately, that meeting did not take place, but Shroff joined the TS by corresponding with the Founders before they left New York, making him one of the earliest Indian members. He was vVice -pPresident of the Bombay Branch from 1882 to 1885, a member of the TS GGeneral CCouncil of the TS, and a major speaker at the 1882 convention. Col. Olcott referred to him as “the all-accomplishing Mr. K. M. Shroff.”  Certainly, he was persuasive and energetic;, and he helped to establish the Homeopathic Charitable Dispensary and Bombay Veterinary College and Hospital, working with Tookarum Tukaram Tatyaya. Shroff testified in support of HPB in the Vega incident. In 1883 he become editor of the Jam-e-Jamshed daily newspaper published in Gujarati and English.
[[File:WIZARDS - Mythical Monsters and other works.jpg|right|240px|thumb|Books by Wizards Bookshelf]]
'''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[?].  


Shroff worked with Stuart Beatson to take legal action against the editor of ''Rast Goftar'', who had accused Blavatsky and Olcott of taking money. (See BL 234 to Khandalavala March 1882, BL 232 Jan-Feb 1882.
== The Secret Doctrine Reference Series ==


He was the leading signatory of a certificate written by a group of Bombay Theosophists to Mrs. Gordon, attesting to the process by which letters were sent in the Vega Incident.(Introduction to Letter 244 in BL)
=== History of the series ===


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.
'''Sorabji Jamaspji Padshah''' (also known as '''Sohrab Jamasp Padshah''') (1856-1927) was a Parsi and the editor of the ''Indian Spectator''. He was an early member of the [[Theosophical Society]] and received a letter from [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]] However, he soon lost interest in the [[Theosophical Society]]. He was the older brother of another early member, [[Burjorji J. Padshah]].<ref>K. J. B. Wadia, ''Fifty Years of Theosophy in Bombay'' (Adyar, Madras, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1931), 5.</ref>
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.
 
== Personal life and education ==
 
Little is known of Padshah's life and early years. He was a resident of Bombay.
 
== Involvement with Theosophical Society ==
 
S. J. Padshah became a member of the [[Theosophical Society]] soon after [[Founders#The Founders|the Founders]], [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] and [[Henry Steel Olcott]], arrived in India. In April, 1880,he was named jointly with [[A. Gustam]] as Librarian of the Society.<ref>"Executive Officers for 1880" ''The Theosophist'' 1.8 (May, 1880), 214. </ref>  On [[May 7]], 1880, Padshah embarked with the Founders on their first trip to Ceylon, along with [[Edward Wimbridge]], [[Damodar K. Mavalankar]], and Pherozshaw Dhanjibhai Shroff.<ref>Anonymous, "The Theosophical Society" ''The Theosophist'' 1.9 (June, 1880), 240.</ref> He went ashore at Tutticorin to return to Bombay by rail.<ref>H. P. Blavatsky, "The Number Seven and Our Society" ''The Theosophist 1 no. 12 (September 1880), 311.</ref> That year he was the Assistant Recording Secretary and was also at one time on the [[General Council of the Theosophical Society|General Council of the TS]].<ref>George E. Linton and Virginia Hanson, eds., ''Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'' (Adyar, Chennai, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 241.</ref>
 
In autumn 1881 he received '''[[Mahatma Letter to Padshah - LMW 2 No. 77|a letter from Master K.H.]]''', who wrote:
 
<blockquote>
Your spirit is undoubtedly most closely akin to and largely vivified by that of poetry, and your intellectual instinct pierces easily into all the mysteries and abysses of nature, often giving a beautiful form, verity and harmony to your verse, as far as I am able to judge of English poetry.<ref>Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa, ''Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom'' Second Series No. 77 (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 149.</ref>
</blockquote>


The letter closes with the following words:
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.


<blockquote>
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.
Bear with the world of those who surround you. Be patient and true to yourself, and Fate, who was a step-mother to you, my poor young friend, may yet change and her persecutions be changed into bounties. Whatever happens know--I am watching over you.<ref>Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa, ''Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom'' Second Series No. 77 (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 150.</ref>
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.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


In that letter the Master also tells him that, after reading one of his poems, he sent it to [[Alfred Percy Sinnett|Mr. Sinnett]] and asked him his opinion on its merits.<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 21 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), ???.</ref>
Richard Robb wrote of [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's]] work '''[[The Secret Doctrine (book)|''The Secret Doctrine'']]''':  
 
S. J. Padshah was one of the Joint signers of a testimonial sent to the ''Spiritualist Magazine'' in London, [[August 19]], 1881, affirming belief in the existence of the [[Masters of the Wisdom]].<ref>Sven Eek, ''Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement'' (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1965), 169.</ref> On [[August 27]], 1881, he published in ''The Bombay Gazette'' , a statement entitled [http://blavatskyarchives.com/padshah.htm# "The Theosophists and ''The Occult World''"] again vouching for the existence of the Masters and claiming he had seen "more than one of them" and that he was a disciple of [[Koot Hoomi|Master K.H.]]<ref>Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa, ''Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom'' Second Series No. 77 (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 149.</ref>
 
By December 1881, however, Mme. Blavatsky complains because "Mr. Padshah" was acting on behalf of the Society without any permission, initiating members into the Society and keeping the money, and having authoritarian attitudes. She wrote to [[Alfred Percy Sinnett|Mr. Sinnett]]:
 
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
With the exception of once 8 or 9 and at another as many lines, from Koot Hoomi, he never received one word from the Brothers, yet, he lowers down all other fellows and publicly boasted at his lecture Framji Hall — that he was one of the very few favoured ones by the Brothers, namely "Col. Olcott, Mr. Sinnett and himself!!" . . . It is always K. H.'s kindness and extreme tenderness for everything suffering that brings on this. He pitied the Fellow who was disinherited by his Father, and had epileptic fits, and felt miserable and — wrote to him a few lines of consolation, and now, there's the thanks. The Brothers are again and once more brought into ridicule.<ref>A. Trevor Barker, ''The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett'' Letter No. XX, (Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1973), 40.</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>


There is a [[Mahatma Letter No. 91#Page 3|reference to "poor Padshah"]] by Master K.H. in October 1882, who stated: "He is a madcap, yet of excellent heart and sincerely devoted to [[Theosophy]] and — our Cause".<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 91 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), ???. See [[Mahatma Letter No. 91#Page 3|Mahatma Letter No. 91, page 3.]] It is not entirely clear, however, whether this refers to him or to another Padshah such as [[Burjorji J. Padshah]].</ref>
{|style="margin: 0 auto;"
 
| [[File:Wizards_Bookshelf_MEC_set.jpg|400px|center|thumb|SD Reference Series with Blavatsky books. Owned by Michael Conlin]]
According to [[Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa|C. Jinarājadāsa]] after a few years he lost interest in the [[Theosophical Society]].<ref>Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa, ''Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom'' Second Series No. 77 (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1977), 149.</ref>
|}
 
=== List of titles in the series ===
== Writings ==
 
S. J. Padshah wrote several articles in the [[The Theosophist (periodical)|''The Theosophist'']], as listed:


* '''''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.


==Online resources==
== Other books published ==
===Articles===  


* '''''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 ==
== Notes ==
<references/>
<references/>


[[Category:Nationality Indian|Shroff, K. M.]]
[[Category:Publishing companies|Wizards Bookshelf]]
[[Category:Zoroastrians|Shroff, K. M.]]
[[Category:Editors|Shroff, K. M.]]
[[Category:Associates of HPB|Shroff, K. M.]]
[[Category:Received Mahatma Letters|Padshah, Sorabji J.]]
[[Category:People who encountered Mahatmas|Padshah, Sorabji J.]]
[[Category:People|Padshah, Sorabji J.]]

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.