Blavatsky H.P. - The Secret Doctrine

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The Secret Doctrine

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Announced in January 1884 as a new version of Isis Unveiled; the first instalment promised for March did not appear. In December 1884 the introduction and first chapter were reported to be in type. H. S. Olcott’s diary records receipt of a new plan for the work on 9 January 1885. (B. de Zirkoff, BCW 6:184-186, BCW 6:xxxvii,xl)

The first volume came off the press on 20 October 1888, as recorded in R. Harte’s copy. Mailing to American subscribers began on 3 November. The second English impression used the same plates and was not a revised second edition; the advertised glossary was not included. (B. de Zirkoff, BCW 10:157-159, BCW 10:13, BCW 10:344)

The posthumous third volume edited by A. Besant in 1897, subtitled Occultism, contains heterogeneous material, including portions of the early Würzburg manuscript and esoteric instructions. B. de Zirkoff considers it unproven that this compilation corresponds to the third volume envisaged by H. P. Blavatsky. In the Collected Writings its contents are distributed among volumes VII, XII, XIII and XIV; the instructions are restored to their original wording. (B. de Zirkoff, BCW 14:xxv-xliv, BCW 14:xxv; BCW editors, BCW 14:1, BCW 14:3)

CTD entry in Russian: Блаватская Е.П. - Тайная доктрина

DATA

Title for references: Blavatsky H.P. - The Secret Doctrine
Short description: Announced in January 1884 as a new version of Isis Unveiled; the first instalment promised for March...

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

The Secret Doctrine

SD editions

There are several editions of The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky:

• Würzburg manuscript of the book, which is a version of the book after HPB wrote it and before it was edited and altered for publication.
• First edition – the first original edition, 1888 (volumes 1, 2) and 1897 (vol. 3).
• Second edition is really a reprint of first edition with minor technical alteration; it was just an issue of additional copies of the book
• Third edition – third edition by A. Bezant and J. Mead, 1893

See Theosophy Wiki for more information.

SD online

There are several other online resources with The Secret Doctrine text:

• Teopedia has first verbatim edition.

• Universal Theosophy – Text has been updated from the 1888 first edition for spelling corrections, typographical errors, styling updates, and transliterations. Updates are traced by highlighting text and Table of Updates.

• Theosophical University Press Online – Obvious errors, such as missing letters, have been corrected against the facsimile edition of 1888, diacritical marks have been left off. Updates are described but not highlighted.

• Internet Sacred Text Archive provides the text without diacritic marks.

Third volume

A third volume was compiled by A. Besant and published in 1897 after H. P. Blavatsky's death (1891). Text belongs to H.P.B., but she did not arrange nor approve this volume.

• The Myth of the "Missing" Third Volume of The Secret Doctrine by Daniel H. Caldwell

Files

• Teopedia Storage accumulates files with different editions of The Secret Doctrine and additional information, such as referenced books, articles about SD, etc.

See also

• The Writing of the Secret Doctrine. A Chronology by Daniel H. Caldwell (PDF)
• SD page info to find out where reference volume:page (f.e. SD 1:45) leads to.

Additional references

Early preparatory work dates from May-June 1879: according to H. S. Olcott’s diary, H. P. Blavatsky began the new book on 23 May and work on its preface continued until 4 June. The plan then involved recasting Isis Unveiled. (B. de Zirkoff, BCW 2:46, BCW 2:xxvii)

On the Infallibility of the Jewish Scriptures (BCW 2:46); Chronological Survey & Key to Abbreviations (BCW 2:xxvii)