Theos-Talk Archives (October 1998 Message tl00045)

SUBJECT:  A standard by which to judge?

This morning, one ULT associate emailed me privately objecting to my
analysis of the Theosophy Company's current edition of THE VOICE OF THE
SILENCE.  This student stated that I was not being fair in MY
criticisms. 

I want to point out to that ULT student and other interested readers
that the Theosophy Company's "Publishers' Preface" to the 1947 edition
of THE SECRET DOCTRINE has set forth a *standard* by which various
editions of the SD (as well as editions of HPB's other books) can be
judged.  This is not my standard; I was not even born in 1947!

*Using that TC standard*, how does the current TC edition of the VOICE
hold up?  I have taken the language used in the SD "Publishers Preface"
and have paraphrased it *below* in reference to the TC edition of the
VOICE.

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With the current 1987 printing of *The Voice of the Silence*, The
Theosophy Company has FAILED in its function of providing students and
inquirers with UNALTERED editions of the original literature of the
Theosophical Movement.  This edition of the *Voice* is NOT a perfect
facsimile of the original edition and CANNOT be relied upon as such.

Besides the original edition of 1889---*the only one authorized by
Madame Blavatsky*---several other editions of this work have appeared. 
The Theosophy Company's 1987 edition is marred by many hundreds of
alterations, some of them trivial, some actual mutilations of the
original text.  This edition contains gratuitous "corrections" of
H.P.B.'s Sanskrit scholarship.  

In summary, this edition is far from being an accurate reproduction of
the original text.  Its exact authenticity cannot be determined without
laborious comparison with the original. 
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