Zirkoff B. - Appendix (BCW vol.10)

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Appendix

by Boris de Zirkoff

H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writtings, vol. 10, page(s) 408-430

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408

NOTE ON THE TRANSLITERATION OF SANSKRIT

The system of diacritical marks used in the Bibliographies and the Index (with square brackets), as well as in the English translations of original French and Russian texts, does not strictly follow any one specific scholar, to the exclusion of all others. While adhering to a very large extent to Sir Monier-Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary, as for instance in the case of the Anusvâra, the transliteration adopted includes forms introduced by other Sanskrit scholars as well, being therefore of a selective nature.

It should also be noted that the diacritical mark for a long “a” was in the early days a circumflex, and therefore all of H.P.B.’s writings embody this sound in the form of “â.” No change has been made from this earlier notation to its more modern form of the “macron,” or line over the “a.” Such a change would have necessitated too many alterations, and almost certainly would have produced confusion; therefore the older usage has been adhered to throughout.

409

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY (With Selected Biographical Notes)

The material contained in the following pages is of necessity a selective one, and is intended to serve three purposes: (a) to give condensed information, not otherwise readily available, about the life and writings of some individuals mentioned by H. P. B. in the text, and who are practically unknown to the present-day student; (b) to give similar data about a few well-known scholars who are discussed at length by H. P. B., and whose writings she constantly quotes; and (c) to give full information regarding all works and periodicals quoted or referred to in the main text and in the Compiler’s Notes, with or without biographical data of their authors. All such works are marked with an asterisk (*).

In the case of Oriental Works, of which only a very few are quoted in the present volume, no attempt has been made to include all the known editions. Those mentioned represent, therefore, only some of the most noteworthy publications. Translations are in the English language, unless otherwise stated. As a rule, the works referred to may be consulted for a short time by means of Inter-Library Loans. To facilitate this, Institutions and Libraries where such works may be obtained are indicated within square brackets. The Key to the Abbreviations used is as follows:

B—Boston Public Library, Boston, Mass.

BM—Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.

G—Columbia University Library, New York City, N.Y.

Ch—University of Chicago Library, Chicago, Ill.

Cl—Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland, Ohio.

Cong—Library of Congress, Washington, D.G.

H—Harvard University Library, Cambridge, Mass.

JHU—Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.

NYP—New York Public Library, New York City, N.Y.

P—Princeton University Library, Princeton, N.J.

Pea—Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md.

UP—University of Pennsylvania Library, Philadelphia, Pa.

Y—Yale University Library, New Haven, Conn.

Ed. stands for Editions of the original text in Devanagari characters; Roman—indicates the text to be in Roman characters.

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410 Adalbert of Magdeburg. Allegedly a Bishop-impostor, whose activities took place in the eighth century. The so-called pagan doctrines still exercized a considerable influence at the time over the Christian population of the Empire of the Francs. It was St. Boniface who denounced Adalbert, together with some other ecclesiastics, and lodged a complaint against them with Pope Zachary. The latter declared Adalbert to be unworthy of his clerical status, as he confused the people and turned them away from God. It does not seem to be clear as to just exactly what Adalbert was doing at the time, but it has been said that he was erecting crosses and little chapels in the fields, and was looked upon as a saint by the people. He was said to possess special knowledge concerning the names of the Angels, and this was the main reason why he had been compared by the Pope to Simon the Magician (Jaffé, Monum. Moguntina, p. xlviii). Adalbert was condemned for the first time at the Synod of Soissons, 744; and again at a Council of the Francs, 745. As no results ensued, the affair was brought up before a Roman Synod, in 745, presided by Pope Zachary himself. An alleged biography of Adalbert was displayed at the deliberations of the Synod; Adalbert was supposed to be a native of Gaul, who had had angelic visions in his early youth and had decided to lead a religious life; he had somehow or other obtained the rank of a Bishop in a non-canonical manner; a legend was current to the effect that he had been specially sanctified and dedicated even before his birth (Jaffe, op. cit., p. 142); that a letter from Christ himself had fallen down from heaven at Jerusalem and was being spread around by Adalbert; and that he had composed a special prayer which was introducing his cult of Angels, and invented new names for them (Jaffe, op. cit., p. 144 et seq.). A considerable battle ensued between Boniface and Adalbert, which eventually led to a severe pronouncement on the part of the Pope who anathematized Adalbert, and removed him from the exercise of all his functions. At a later date, Adalbert became active once more and the controversy flared up again. We have no definite information concerning this period, but it is known that Adalbert was finally detained at Fulda, and eventually killed by some shepherds (Jaffe, op. cit., Ixiii; Pertz, Monum. Germ. Hist. Script., Vol. II, p. 355).

Consult also: C.J. von Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, Freiburg i. B., 1855-74; Seiters, Bonifacius, der Apostel der Deutschen, Mainz, 1845.