Theos-Talk Archives (September 1998 Message tl00062)

Re: VOICE OF THE SILENCE---The Theosophy Company edition compared with
the ORIGINAL
(or What is good for the goose is also good for the gander??)

Paul Bazzer and Tony Maddock have been quite vocal in their criticisms
about the shortcomings of Boris de Zirkoff's edition of THE SECRET
DOCTRINE.  [Dallas TenBroeck has also given criticisms of the
Mead/Besant edition of the SD as well as comments on Boris de Zirkoff's
SD edition.]

I hope that they will be equally forthright with their views (and
criticisms??) concerning the Theosophy Company's edition of THE VOICE OF
THE SILENCE.

What are their opinions of the fact that there are numerous changes
between the original 1889 edition of THE VOICE and the Theosophy
Company's current edition.  In 1928, Dr. H.N. Stokes commented on these
changes:

"There are 665 points of differences, of one sort of another, viz.

In the preface. . . . . . . . 34
In the text. . . . . . .  . .274
In the notes. . . . . . . . .357

These. . . consist of changes in punctuation, italics, quotation marks,
capitals, spelling of Sanskrit words, omission of the important
diacritical marks over the vowels, and others.  This averages one change
to every three or four lines."

Notice Stokes' words:  "changes in . . . spelling of Sanskrit words".  I
will deal with these changes in spelling in my next email.

Even Dallas in his recent comments on these "changes" admits that the
Theosophy Company's edition alters the original pagination of the
VOICE:  

>However those changes do not relate to the words, but to the use of a different kind of format and >punctuation to indicate footnotes.  This was done deliberately, I am told, for the benefit of students, as >they read the text.

Well, Boris de Zirkoff ALSO made changes in the SD concerning the
"formatting" of the pages and "this was [no doubt] done deliberately. .
. for the benefit of students, as they read the text."  But both Paul
and Tony were highly critical of this.  [Formatting in BdZ's SD edition
involved reformatting the paragraphs on each page, putting quoted
material in a different size font from that of HPB's own words.]

ALSO Tony Maddock wrote sometime ago on theos-talk:

>Both facsimiles [of the SD by Theosophy Company and Theosophical University Press] preserve the original SD >of HPB and the Masters.

>It is incredible that one has to go outside the Adyar TS to get a facsimile of the original edition [of the >SD]. 

Well, Tony, does the Theosophy Company's edition of the VOICE also
"preserve the *original* VOICE of HPB and the Masters"?

And, Tony, is it not ALSO "incredible that one has to go outside the ULT
to get a facsimile of the original edition [of the Voice]"??!!

In my next email I will deal with Dallas' comments on the Theosophy
Company's edition of the VOICE.

Daniel Caldwell