Zirkoff B. - H. P. Blavatsky's Literary Career

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H. P. Blavatsky's Literary Career

by Boris de Zirkoff

H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writtings, vol. 1, page(s) 1-25

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1

H. P. BLAVATSKY’S LITERARY CAREER

The Earliest Known Writings

[There exists no definite evidence that H.P.B. had ever published any articles, essays or letters to Editors prior to October, 1874. Still the probability of her having written is considerable, as various statements have been made by herself and others which seem to indicate that her literary work began much earlier in life than the year 1874. We may never obtain, however, any conclusive evidence concerning this.

There is, for instance, her own reported statement in an interview given by her to the Daily Graphic of New York, and published November 13, 1874, to the effect that she was a contributor to the Revue des Deux Mondes of Paris, and acted as correspondent of the Indépendence Belge and several Parisian Journals. No record of this exists, however, in the Editorial Offices of these well known periodicals, though it is possible that she may have written under some pseudonym, or merely as “correspondent” from one or another part of the world. The text of this interview is of a rather sensational kind, and embodies a number of errors and misstatements as to names and events. So it cannot be relied upon.

Then there is a statement made around 1956-57 by a very old gentleman, Adolphe de Castro, of Los Angeles, California, who had met H.P.B. in Berlin about 1873, to the effect that she was then reading galley-proofs of some articles she had written in Russian, that he was able to be of help to her with some old Hebrew terms, and that what she was writing was intended either for a Russian paper or for a local Jewish Journal, the most likely one being Das Zeitung des Judenthums. The old files of this Journal have been investigated, as far as this could be done in the holdings of the British Museum, but no positive result was obtained.

There is also a statement of hers made to her friend, Alexander Nikolayevich Aksakov, in a letter dated October 28, 1874, to the effect that she translated into Russian a manuscript by a medium 2named James, and which was supposed to have been the second part of Dickens’ unfinished novel, Edwin Drood. She would have liked to have had it published in Russian.

Wm. M. Ivins, H.P.B.’s lawyer in her lawsuit of 1874-75, said that H.P.B. was translating Darwin’Origin of Species and H. T. Buckle’s History of Civilization in England, while the suit was pending.

All of these various statements may or may not be based on fact. No supporting evidence for them, however, has ever been found.

In the same letter to A. N. Aksakov mentioned above, H.P.B., having just returned to New York from a visit to the farmhouse of the Eddy Brothers, at Chittenden, Vt., says that she has been translating Col. Olcott’s articles on the mediumistic phenomena of the Eddy Brothers, which he was then contributing to the pages of the New York Daily Graphic; she says that she could send them to Aksakov regularly, together with their accompanying illustrations.

It is quite probable that H.P.B. did actually translate all of Col. Olcott’s articles as they appeared, because Aksakov wrote to him on April 4/16, 1875, that he had finished reading them. It is these articles of Col. Olcott that were eventually published in book-form, under the title of People from the Other World (Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Co., 1875).

It is not definitely known what became of H.P.B.’s Russian translation of Col. Olcott’s original articles, and there is no evidence that they were ever published in any Russian Journal.]

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H.P.B.’S SKETCHBOOK

[There is in the Archives of The Theosophical Society at Adyar a small booklet, seven by eleven inches, of not more than twenty-six pages, three leaves at least having been torn out. For purposes of identification, we may call it H.P.B.’s Sketchbook, as it contains mostly drawings and sketches in both ink and pencil, also 3mere scrawls and scribbles, with here and there some writing between them.

The first page of the booklet, partly reproduced in facsimile, shows in the middle a pen drawing of a seaside view, most likely Ramsgate, England, and a pen-and-ink sketch of a coat of arms, not definitely identified but evidently belonging to one or another branch of the von Hahn Family, as it shows a cock as one of its symbols.

The rest of the page is covered by two columns of two poems in Russian script whose authorship is unknown. At the top of the page H.P.B. has written in Russian: “Indistinct Reminiscences.”

The most interesting item on this page is H.P.B.’s French comment written under the seaside sketch and as a footnote. It is as follows:]

“Nuit mémorable! Certaine nuit, par un clair de lune qui se couchait à Ramsgate 12 Août, 1851, lorsque je rencontrais [symbol] le Maître de mes rêves!!”

4 [The English equivalent of this is:]

“Memorable night! On a certain night by the light of the moon that was setting at Ramsgate on August 12, 1851, when I met [symbol] the Master of my dreams!!

[This inscription fixes with a considerable degree of probability the time when this particular booklet was started.

In her Reminiscences of H. P. Blavatsky and “The Secret Doctrine” (pp. 57-58) Countess Constance Wachtmeister relates an incident that occurred while H.P.B. was at Würzburg, Germany. It appears that Madame N. A. de Fadeyev, H.P.B.’s aunt, sent her from Russia a box containing various mementoes. Among these was the above-mentioned booklet which the Countess calls a “scrapbook.” H.P.B., on seeing the seaside sketch, gave an exclamation of delight and said: “Come and look at this which I wrote in the year 1851, the day I saw my blessed Master.” The Countess then quotes the exact French text written by H.P.B. under the sketch. She also adds in a footnote: “On seeing the manuscript I asked why she had written ‘Ramsgate’ instead of ‘London,’ and H.P.B. told me that it was a blind, so that anyone casually taking up her book would not know where she had met her Master, and that her first interview with him had been in London as she had previously told me.”

The second page of the booklet contains the following brief piece of writing in French:]

. . . Toutes les magnificences de la Nature,—le silence imposant de la nuit, les odeurs des fleurs,—les rayons pâles de la lune à travers les panaches verts des arbres,—les étoiles, fleurs de feu semées dans le ciel, les lucioles, fleurs de feu semées dans l’herbe,—tout cela a été créé pour rendre l’Adepte digne de la NATURE, au moment où, pour la première fois, elle dit à l’Homme, je t’appartiens,—mot formé d’un céleste parfum de l’âme, qui s’exale et monte au ciel avec les parfums des fleurs,—moment, le seul de sa vie,—où il est roi, où il est Dieu, moment qu’il paye et qu’il expie par toute une existence de regrets amers.

« Ce moment; c’est le prix de toutes nos misères».

[This text has been altered by H.P.B. at one time or another. The words “l’Adepte digne de la NATURE” are in red ink and are 5superimposed over the original words “le monde digne de l’homme” written in black ink. The words “elle dit à l’Homme, je t’appartiens” are also in red ink and superimposed over the original words “il dit à une femme—je t’aime” written in black ink.]

[English translation of the above:]

. . . . All the glories of Nature—the imposing silence of the night; the aroma of the flowers; the pale rays of the moon rough the green tufts of the trees; the stars, flowers of fire strewn over the sky; the glow-worms, flowers of fire strewn over the grass—all these have been created to render the Adept worthy of NATURE, at that moment when for the first time she exclaims to Man, “I am yours,”—words formed of a divine perfume from the soul, which, breathed forth ascends to heaven together with the perfume of the flowers—the one moment of his life when he is king, when he is God; the moment which he expiates and pays for with a whole life of bitter regrets.

“That moment—it is the price of all our miseries.”

[Page 3 of the booklet, aside from meaningless scrawls, contains the following few words also in French:]

La femme trouve son bonheur dans l’acquisition des pouvoirs surnaturels—l’amour—c’est un vilain rêve, un cauchemar.

[English translation of the above:]

Woman finds her happiness in the acquisition of supernatural powers—love is a vile dream, a nightmare.

[Page 4 has more scrawls and the address of a Captain Miller, 1, Dragoon-guards, Aldershot. Page 5 has a pencil drawing of a man’s head with his grotesque shadow on the wall, and a poodle sitting upright on his haunches on a table. Page 6 is blank, and pages 7 and 8 contain the beautiful “Légende sur la Belle de Nuit” which is the most important item in this booklet. The text of this Legend written in French is as follows:]

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6

LÉGENDE SUR LA BELLE DE NUIT

Tradition des Steppes.

Tout au commencement de la création du Monde et bien avant le péché qui perdit Ève, un frais buisson vert étendait ses larges feuilles sur le bord d’un ruisseau. Le soleil, jeune à cette époque, fatigué de ses débuts, se couchait lentement, et tirant sur lui ses rideaux de brouillards, enveloppait la terre d’ombres profondes et noires; alors on vit s’épanouir sur une des branches du buisson une modeste fleur; elle n’avait ni la fraîche beauté de la rose; ni l’orgueil superbe et majestueux du beau lys. Humble et modeste elle ouvrit ses pétales, et jeta un regard craintif sur le monde du grand Bouddha. Tout était froid et sombre autour d’elle! Ses compagnes sommeillaient tout autour courbées sur leurs tiges flexibles; ses camarades, mêmes filles du même buisson, se détournaient de son regard; les papillons de nuit, amants volages des fleurs, se reposaient bien un moment sur son sein, puis s’envolaient vers de plus belles. Un gros scarabé faillit la couper en deux en grimpant sans cérémonie sur elle à la recherche d’un gîte nocturne, et la pauvre fleur effrayée de son isolement, et de son abandon au milieu de cette foule indifférente, baissa la tête tristement et laissa tomber une goute de rosée amère. Mais voilà qu’une petite étoile s’alluma dans le ciel sombre; ses brillants rayons vifs et doux perçèrent les flots des ténèbres, et soudain la fleur orpheline se sentit vivifiée et rafraîchie comme par une rosée bienfaisante . . . toute ranimée elle leva sa corolle et aperçut l’étoile bienveillante. Aussi reçut-elle ses rayons dans son sein, toute palpitante d’amour et de reconnaissance Ils l’avaient fait renaître à l’existence.

L’aurore au sourire rose chassa peu à peu les ténèbres et l’étoile fut noyée dans l’océan de lumière que répandit l’astre du jour; des milliers de fleurs courtisanes le saluèrent, se baignant avidement dans ses rayons d’or. Il les versait aussi sur la petite fleur; le grand astre daignait l’envelopper, elle aussi, dans ses baisers de flammes . . . . mais pleine de souvenir de l’etoile du soir, et de son 7scintillement argentin, la fleur reçut froidement les démonstrations du fier soleil. Elle avait encore devant les yeux la lueur douce et affectueuse de l’étoile; elle sentait encore dans son cœur la goute de rosée bienfaisante et, se détournant des rayons aveuglants du soleil, elle serra ses pétales et se coucha dans le feuillage tout épais du buisson paternel. Depuis lors, le jour devint la nuit pour la pauvre fleur, et la nuit le jour; dès que le soleil apparait, et embrasse de ses flots d’or le ciel et la terre,—la fleur est invisible; mais une fois le soleil couché, et que, perçant un coin de l’horizon obscurci, la petite étoile apparait, la fleur la salue joyeusement, joue avec ses rayons argentins, respire à larges traits sa douce lueur.

Tel est aussi le cœur de beaucoup de femmes. Le premier mot bienveillant, la première caresse affectueuse, tombant sur son cœur endolori s’y enracinent profondément; et se sentant toute émue à une parole amicale, elle reste indifférente aux démonstrations passionnées de l’univers entier. Que le premier soit comme tant d’autres, qu’il se perde dans des milliers d’astres semblables à lui; le cœur de la femme saura le découvrir, de près comme de loin, elle suivra avec amour et intérêt son cours modeste et enverra des bénédictions sur son passage. Elle pourra saluer le fier soleil, admirer son éclat, mais fidèle et reconnaissante, son cœur appartiendra pour toujours à une seule étoile.

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[English translation of the foregoing French text.]

LEGEND OF THE NIGHT-FLOWER

Tradition of the Steppes

At the very beginning of the creation of the World, and long before the sin which became the downfall of Eve, a fresh green shrub spread its broad leaves on the banks of a rivulet. The sun, still young at that time and tired of its initial efforts, was setting slowly, and drawing its veils of 8mists around him, enveloped the earth in deep and dark shadows. Then a modest flower blossomed forth upon a branch of the shrub. She had neither the fresh beauty of the rose, nor the superb and majestic pride of the beautiful lily. Humble and modest, she opened her petals and cast an anxious glance on the world of the great Buddha. All was cold and dark about her! Her companions slept all around bent on their flexible stems; her comrades, daughters of the same shrub, turned away from her look; the moths, winged lovers of the flowers, rested but for a moment on her breast, but soon flew away to more beautiful ones. A large beetle almost cut her in two as it climbed without ceremony over her, in search for nocturnal quarters. And the poor flower, frightened by its isolation and its loneliness in the midst of this indifferent crowd, hung its head mournfully and shed a bitter dewdrop for a tear. But lo, a little star was kindled in the sombre sky. Its brilliant rays, quick and tender, pierced the waves of gloom. Suddenly the orphaned flower felt vivified and refreshed as by some beneficent dew. Fully restored, she lifted her face and saw the friendly star. She received its rays into her breast, quivering with love and gratitude. They had brought about her rebirth into a new life.

Dawn with its rosy smile gradually dispelled the darkness, and the star was submerged in an ocean of light which streamed forth from the star of day. Thousands of flowers hailed it their paramour, bathing greedily in his golden rays. These he shed also on the little flower; the great star deigned to cover her too with its flaming kisses. But full of the memory of the evening star, and of its silvery twinkling, the flower responded but coldly to the demonstrations of the haughty sun. She still saw before her mind’s eye the soft and affectionate glow of the star; she still felt in her heart the beneficent dewdrop, and turning away from the blinding rays of the sun, she closed her petals and went to sleep nestled in the thick foliage of the parent-shrub. From that time on, day became night for the lowly flower, and night became day. As soon as the sun rises and engulfs heaven and earth in its golden rays, the flower becomes 9invisible; but hardly does the sun set, and the star, piercing a corner of the dark horizon, makes its appearance, than the flower hails it with joy, plays with its silvery rays, and absorbs with long breaths its mellow glow. Such is the heart of many a woman. The first gracious word, the first affectionate caress, falling on her aching heart, takes root there deeply. Profoundly moved by a friendly word, she remains indifferent to the passionate demonstrations of the whole universe. The first may not differ from many others; it may be lost among thousands of other stars similar to that one, yet the heart of woman knows where to find him, near by or far away; she will follow with love and interest his humble course, and will send her blessings on his journey. She may greet the haughty sun, and admire its glory, but, loyal and grateful, her love will always belong to one lone star.

[Page 9 has two heads in pencil, one en profile, the other en face, and some numbers and scrawls. Page 10 is blank. Pages 11-14 have faded photographs stuck on them: first a lady with some likeness to H.P.B., possibly her sister Vera Petrovna; then the portraits of H.P.B.’s maternal grandfather and grandmother, Andrey Mihailovich and Helena Pavlovna de Fadeyev, the latter with the date Tiflis, 1855; the last one is of an unidentified younger lady. Page 15 has a hasty pen-and-ink outline of a man; page 16, childish scrawls; page 17, the Greek alphabet with the names of the letters written in Russian script; pages 18 and 19 are occupied with a woman’s head in ink and two studies of seemingly Napoleon’s head; page 20 is blank; page 21 has some decorative letters; page 22 is blank also; on top of page 23 a Russian sentence written in pencil says: “Thy old copy-book. 1862.” It is in the handwriting of H.P.B.’s aunt Nadyezhda.

Page 24—reproduced herewith in facsimile—is occupied with pen drawings of Marguerite praying before a crucifix, with hands folded on her breast, and Mephistopheles whispering seductions in her ear, with a caption in pencil:

Teresina Signora Mitrovich. (Faust) Tiflis 7 Avril, 1862.

The name is that of a Russian singer’s wife, herself a singer also. Her husband, Agardi Mitrovich or Metrovich, acquired a notorious fame in H.P.B.’s life through people’s slanderous gossip. H.P.B. once saved his life in 1850.

10

Writing to H.P.B. from Odessa, on November 23 (old style), 1884, Madame Nadyezhda A. de Fadeyev, her aunt. says:

“. . . . I can tell him [Col. Olcott] that Mr. Agardi Mitrovich, whom all of us have known so well in Tiflis and at Odessa, and who was a friend to us all, could never have been either your husband or your lover, because he adored his wife who died two years before his own death, poor man, at Cairo; that she is buried in the cemetery of Tiflis, and that your mutual friendship dates from the year when he married his wife. Finally, everybody knows that it is we ourselves who had asked him to go and find you at Cairo, in order to accompany you to Odessa (in the year 1871), and that he died without bringing you back, after which you came back alone . . . .”

These sentences and a few others on other subjects were written in French, with the intention that Col. Olcott could read them 11and understand their contents. Madame de Fadeyev’s letter quoted above is in the Adyar Archives, together with a large number of other letters from her pen.

Various facts about Mitrovich may be gathered by consulting The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett (pp. 143-44, 147, 148, 189-91). On page 144 of this work, H.P.B. states that she met him “in Tiflis in 1861, again with his wife, who died after I had left in 1865 I believe.” This date is of course relevant to the one we find in our Sketchbook.

Page 25 contains six strophes, of eight lines each, of a burlesque and somewhat vulgar song in French about the eleven sons of Jacob. Page 26 and last contains only meaningless scrawls.

From the above description of the contents of this Sketchbook, it is evident that it belongs to a very early period in H.P.B.’s life, many years prior to the beginning of her literary career.]

H.P.B.’s NOTEBOOK OF TRAVEL IMPRESSIONS.

[We have seen from the Chronological Survey of H.P.B.’s early life how little information is available about her moves and whereabouts immediately after leaving the Caucasus in 1865. There is, however, in the Adyar Archives a document which throws some light upon this period of H.P.B.’s endless wanderings. It is a special Notebook only two-and-a-half by four inches in size, in which she made rather copious notes in black pencil about her impressions while travelling in Eastern Europe. She wrote in French, inserting here and there a few names in Russian. Some parts of the text are faded, a few words are illegible, and the punctuation is somewhat uncertain, but on the whole these notes have been rather well-preserved and are of special interest.

In the pocket attached to the back cover of this Notebook there is a Roman Catholic Church Calendar of the year 1851, printed in French. and a small piece of paper bearing the following name written by H.P.B. in Russian:

12 Alexa Berbitz from Belgrade, Serbia.

Pasted on the inner side of the front cover is a red seal made of paper. In the center of it we see the Coat of Arms of Hungary. The inscription around it is in Hungarian: Cs. K. Kizárólagos szabadalmazott fogpapir, Fáczányi Ármin gyógyszerésztöl Pesten (Imperial and Royal Exclusive Patent Paper Seal. From Armin Fáczányi, Chemist, Budapest).

From the presence of an 1851 Calendar, one could easily infer that these notes belong to the early fifties of last century; but it appears from the context itself that they must have been made during the year 1867, as will be shown in the transcript published below.]

[The superior numbers in the following pages refer to Compiler’s Notes appended at the end of the English translation of H. P. B’s text.]

Kronstadt. Brassó—Transylvania. Hôtel Grüner Baum. Comfortable et bon marché. M. et Mme. Burcheg—professeur de Gymnase. Jeune suisse un peu pédant. Elle joua de la flûte et [est] hongroise. La vieille Mme. Kántor aveugle.—Kronstadt est une des plus jolies petites villes d l’Europe par sa position, sa propreté, et de son élégance. Mais tout près, l’Eau de Borszék y est fameuse.—Venant de Bucarest les Zlapari vous demandent vos passeports et vous font payer le droit de ne pas examiner vos malles en les bouleversant de leurs mains sales. Population fort mixte des valaques, hongrois et souabes. L’architecture des maisons de villes est entièrement changée. Chaque maison porte la date de la construction sur le toit.

Hermannstadt (Szeben)

Hôtel de Römischer Kaiser. Voleur hongrois. H. Couronne de Hongrie allemand et plus voleur encore. La ville bien moins jolie que Kronstadt est inondée d’officiers autrichiens—Polonais pour la plupart. Régiment Hartmann. Tütch Kapelmeister—Czech. Le soldat violoniste virtuose français. Discussion eternelle sur Mouravieff et Haynau.² Le conseiller Traposta co-Carbonari ayant déjà reçu un coup de poigne d’une main inconnue. Sa femme compositeur de musique László Anna. Le commissaire de police polonais partant pour épouser à Bucarest le monstre des 13foires Flora. Blagueur, menteur et voleur comme polonais et employé autrichien. Église Luthérienne toute sculptée. Beauté unique. Statue St. Nepomucène. 8 h. de Krons.

Karlsburg. Fehérvár (Alba Julia). Ancien camp Romain. Restes et ruines, pour le moment ville juive et forteresse autrichienne. Hôtel de Ung. Krone, Adolf Benedict, juif hongrois. Prétendant être le premier bariton du monde. Bon marché. Le maudit Kántor! La société Neeman. Le juif Lion Emmanuel Mendl. Violon de dentiste Peterka. 8 h. de diligence.

Klausenburg—(Kolozsvár). Nous gelons en route. Grande ville assez belle. Vieille cathédrale de 700 ans. Beau théâtre. Hôtel Biasini. Cher et mal. Directeur Fehérváry. Szephédy. (Mlle Schönberg) juive de Temesvár. Mme. Nagy Hubert, Fekete. Philipovich M. Le bariton sifflé Heksh.

La baron Bánffy et le Comte Esterházy—grande fureur du pianiste Litolff—le dernier jour de la Terreur de Robespierre.³ Orchestre. La Comtesse Mikes. Le gouverneur général français le Comte Crenneville. Fêtes de la Constitution.⁴ Canons autrichiens bloqués sur la place. 10 h. de diligence de Karlsburg.

Grosswardein (Nagyvárad). Énorme ville juive. Beaucoup d’hôtels, beaucoup d’églises. Chemin de fer. 24 h. de diligence de Kolozsvár.

Debreczen. 6 heures de chemin de fer de G. Ward. Jolie ville. Le plus beau théâtre de Hongrie, plus beau qu’à Pesth. Le cœur de la Hongrie. Tous Hongrois, peu d’allemands. Bal des ouvriers maçons. Bal de Tzigan.

Arad. 6 h. de Debreczen par chemin de fer à Szolnok. On y couche. De Szolnok autres 6 h. ch. de fer à Arad. Très grande ville. Tous Hongrois. Beaucoup d’aristocratie. Le pont près de la forteresse, où l’on a fusillé et pendu en 1849 13 généraux Hongrois. Fêtes de la Constitution. Drapeaux tricolores partout. Les autrichiens s’y cachaient. Petit théâtre infect. M. et Mme. Folinus. Le maestro Caldy. M. et Mme. 14Marzel. Szép Heléna.⁵ Dalfy, Dalnoly et Mlle Visconti. Mme. Lukács. Braves gens.

Temesvár. 8 h. diligence. Charmante ville mais allemande et triste. Hôtels magnifiques. La ville forteresse est entourée des 4 côtés par 4 faubourgs communicant à la forteresse par le parc. Le parc Coronini est le plus beau. Énorme distance si l’on compte les faubourgs. M. et Mme. Reiman. Mme. Kirchberger prima donna admirable Lucretia. Bariton Malechevsky. Rossi ténor. Opéra allemand. Murad effendi.—Beaucoup de Serbes.

Belgrade. 6 h. ch. fer jusqu’à Bazias, de là bateau par Danube jusqu’à Belgrade 7 heures. Rencontre avec Mr. Vizkelety. Horrible ville sale, turque, laide, mal pavée mais pleine de ducats. Mme. Anka Obrenovich, le Comte Campo. Shishkin, Consul russe. Ignaccio, Consul d’Italie, Société philharmonique. — M. Feodorovich, Voulatch. Milovouk des Stojan, Svetozar Vadim Radevoy en masse. Les turcs étaient entrain de vider la forteresse. Rezi Pacha s’en allait par ordre de Sultan et les serbes fêtaient leur libertê. Obrenovich Michael partait pour Constantinople remercier le Sultan.⁶ 101 coups de canon tirés. Chanson Serbe dédiée au Prince. L’infâme Joanovich intendant au Prince. Le métropolite de 28 ans, élevé à Moscou. Hôtel infecte et sale. Bateaux à vapeur allant 2 fois par jour à Semlin qui est vis-à-vis.

Pancsova, Autriche. 3 h. de bateau par Danube. Jolie ville propre, population mixte serbes et allemands. Beaucoup d’hôtels et beaux magasins.

Semlin. 3 h. bateau de Pancsova, un trou allemand et serbe. 4 jours à s’embêter à l’hôtel de Venise—attendant le bateau pour Neusatz. Jolie vue sur Belgrade de l’autre côté du Danube. Beaucoup de capitaines de marine, officiers autrichiens faisant l’amour sous les fenêtres — à chaque maison.

Neusatz, Novosad. Ville tout à fait serbe, peu d’hongrois (7 heures de Semlin Danube). Hôtel Grüner Kranz 15infecte et voleur. Hôtel Elisabeth très beau. Popovich rédacteur de journal. Sa femme actrice serbe, beauté splendide. Lue parlant russe et français. Mr. Vizkelety et sa femme 2 filles, Irma et— Braves hongrois. Café de Teremeich Demovladeko. Sa fille Maria. Les frères pravoslavny. Joanovich, Stojanovich et autres. Mr. Isau ex-précepteur des enfants du G. D. Michel (Mr. Vermily).

Betchkerek. 2 h. de bateau jusqu’à Titel, petit endroit infect sur Theiss et à 2h. du Danube, de là 3 heures par diligence jusqu’à Betchkerek. La ville est sale et laide. Beaucoup de serbes et d’hongrois surtout des juifs. Les derniers veulent les droits égaux aux chrétiens. Députation juive envoyée au ministre hongrois de Pesth. Refus du Cte. Andrássy. Théâtre national serbe, le Tchizmar.

Eszek (Slavonie) de Betchkerek à Titel (Wagen). Bateau à vapeur pour Neusatz, jour et coucher la nuit au bateau jusqu’à l’embouchure de Drava. On change de bateau et on va par Drava 3 h. jusqu’à Eszek, composée de 3 villes qui entourent la fortresse qui est énorme. Oberstadt, Neustadt et Unterstadt. Population serbes presque tous, catholiques allemands et hongrois. De 500 à 1000 prisonniers tant politiques que pour autres crimes. Ville très jolie mais fort ennuyeuse. On voit la journée entière des détachements de prisonniers dont les jambes sont enchaînées et suivis de soldats avec leurs fusils—passer par les rues. Il n’y a qu’un mois que les prisonniers politiques italiens 800 en tout furent libérés par réclamation du Gouvt. Italien. Le théâtre dans l’Oberstadt est un vrai bijou, mais tous les directeurs se ruinent car ici la majorité du public sont des officiers qui ne payent que 20 Kr. l’entrée comme partout.⁷ Il y a quelques années quand il y eut famine en Serbie et Slavonie que les Auts. proposèrent au peuple pravoslavny, de travailler aux grandes routes, moyennant 1 fl. par jour toute l’année—mais à condition—de prendre la religion catholique—autrement on les laissait mourir de faim. Dans la forteresse le meilleur hôtel est Weisen Wolf, bon marché. Ici comme dans d’autres villes de la Serbie, Slavonie et Autriche, tous les passants, hommes, femmes, 16aristocrates ou plèbes vous saluent dans la rue sans vous, connaître et les enfants à la vue des personnes de bas étage ajoutent même infailliblement Küss die Hand!—Ce qui m’a fort étonné. O, [nous] subirons toute la journée.

Verchetz, grande ville fort sale—population serbe toute. Grand commerce de vin. Obradovich Kosta—tous Russophiles. 2 h. p. équipage la route Weisskirchen. Petite ville charmante toute enterrée dans les vignes. 1 quart d’heure chemin de fer de Verchetz et à 1 quart d’heure de Bu . . . . . serbes et allemands detestant les uns les autres. Hôtel de Soleil bon marché et bon. Breton, Bouletich le bâfrent. Environs magnifiques.

Horowitz. Demi village, demi ville, fabriques et ouvriers. La ville est enfouie dans les montagnes (bas Banat) mines d’or mais le gouvernement ayant acheté aux hongrois le terrain n’a plus le moyen d’avoir des ouvriers et on ne trouve que 4-5. . . . . . d’or par semaine. Ressemble à Borzhom.⁸ Sign. Scoffa. Mr. Veuv, Bach. Population valaque et allemande. 6 h. de voiture de Weisskirchen.

Rechitza, grande et belle ville à 5 ou 6 énormes fabriques contenant 5 mille ouvriers presque tous prussiens et anglais. Énormes mines de fer. Compagnie française du Crédit Mobilier. Le plus beau pays du monde, une Suisse . . . . . . Mme. Borz virtuose de piano. Ses sœurs. La famille Mack. 8 h. de voiture de Horowitz. Limite du haut Banat, la plus pittoresque route de l’univers. 14 h. de voiture de Temesvár.

Temesvár — X.

Kikinda. 2 h. de chemin de fer de Temesvár, grande bourgade. Mme. Stoikovich et ses neuf filles. Mr. Stefanovich, le colonel Anneti-Monti.

Hazfeld. 1 heure de Kik. chemin de fer.

Mehadia. Bains minéraux, seule et unique rue toute composée d’hôtels splendides et énormes, Hercules Bad, Röber Hôtel. La caverne des brigands dont le souterrain va de Mehadia jusqu’à Orsova. Fameuse légende de Ludwig 17le chef des brigands qui a donné son nom aux bains. Environs splendides.

Körös-Maros Sebes. Ville de frontière, petite, sale et ennuyeuse.

Lugos, jolie ville hongroise.

[The following four items, written in Russian, are very likely the amounts paid by H.P.B. for her tickets.]

From Vienna to Graz—8-25

From Vienna to Trieste—21-35

From T. to Venice—5-27

From Graz to Laibach—7-20

[On the remaining pages of the Notebook we find H.P.B.’s notes of various travelling expenses, most likely both transportation and food; these are written in Russian. She also lists certain monies received by her, but does not indicate their source. On one of the middle pages of the Notebook we find a sketch made by H.P.B. showing the geographical position on the map of some of the places she visited during this journey.]

[Translation of the foregoing French text.]

Kronstadt. Brassó — Transylvania. Hotel Grüner Baum. Comfortable and cheap. Mr. and Mad. Burcheg—teacher in the Gymnasium. Young Swiss, a bit pedantic. She is Hungarian and plays the flute. Old, blind Mad. Kántor. Kronstadt is one of the nicest small towns in Europe owing to its location, cleanliness and elegance. Quite near to it are the famous mineral waters of Borszék.—Coming from Bucharest, the Zlaparis ask for your passport, and make you pay for not examining your trunks by turning them inside out with their dirty hands. Very mixed population of Wallachians, Hungarians and Swabians. The architecture of the houses is entirely different. Each house has the date of its construction on the roof.

Hermannstadt (Szeben)

Hotel Römischer Kaiser. A Hungarian thief. Hotel of the Hungarian Crown, German and a still greater thief. 18The town is far from being as nice as Kronstadt, and is flooded with Austrian officers, mainly Poles. Regiment Hartmann. The Conductor of the band is Tütch, a Czech. The soldier violinist is a French virtuoso. Eternal discussion about Muraviov and Haynau.² Councilman Traposta, co-Carbonari, has already been stabbed by an unknown hand. His wife László Anna, is a composer of music. The Chief of Police, a Pole, was about to leave for Bucharest, to marry the monster of the fairs, Flora. Being a Pole and an Austrian employee, he is a humbug, a liar, and a thief. Lutheran church, all full of sculptures. Unique beauty. Statue of St. Nepomuk. 8 hours from Kronstadt.

Karlsburg. Fehérvár (Alba Julia). Ancient Roman camp. Remains and ruins. At present a Jewish town and an Austrian Fort. Hotel Ung. Krone. Adolf Benedict, Hungarian Jew, pretending to be the foremost baritone of the world. Cheap. Damned Kántor! The Neeman Society. The Jew Lion Emmanuel Mendl. Violin of the dentist Peterka. 8 hours by coach.

Klausenburg—(Kolozsvár). We are freezing on our way. A large and rather beautiful town. A 700 years old Cathedral. Nice theatre. Hotel Biasini. Expensive and bad. Director Fehérváry. Szephédy. (Miss Schönberg), a Jewess from Temesvár. Mme. Nagy Hubert, Fekete. Philipovich M. Heksh, the hissed baritone.

The Baron Bánffy and the Count Esterházy — Great success of the pianist Litolff—the last day of the Terreur of Robespierre.³ Orchestra. The Countess Mikes. The French Governor-General Count Crenneville. Festival of the Constitution.⁴ Austrian cannons jammed on the square. 10 hours by coach from Karlsburg.

Grosswardein (Nagyvárad). Large Jewish town. Many hotels and churches. Railway. 24 hours by coach from Kolozsvár.

Debreczen. 6 hours by train from G. Ward. Nice town. The most beautiful theatre in Hungary, more beautiful 19than in Pesth. The heart of Hungary. All Hungarians, few Germans. Ball of the Masons. Ball of the Tzigans.

Arad. 6 hours by train from Debreczen to Szolnok. Spent the night there. From there another 6 hours by train to Arad. A very large town. Entirely Hungarian. Many aristocrats. The bridge near the fortress where 13 Hungarian Generals were shot and hanged in 1849. Festival of the Constitution. Tricoloured [Hungarian] flags everywhere. The Austrians hide themselves. A small and unpleasant theatre. Mr. and Mad. Folinus. The maestro Cáldy. Mr. and Mme. Marzel. Szép Helena.⁵ Dalfy, Dalnoly and Mlle. Visconti. Mme. Lukács. Decent people.

Temesvár. 8 hours by coach. A charming place, but German and doleful. Magnificent hotels. The Fort is surrounded on all four sides by four suburbs communicating with the Fort through the park. The Coronini park is the most beautiful. Enormous distances if one reckons the suburbs. Mr. and Mme. Reiman. Mme. Kirchberger, prima donna and admirable Lucretia. Baritone Malechevsky. Tenor Rossi. German Opera. Murad effendi. Many Serbians.

Belgrade. 6 hours by train to Bazias; thence 7 hours by steamer on the Danube to Belgrade. Meeting with Mr. Vizkelety. Horrible, dirty city, Turkish, ugly, badly paved but full of ducats. Mme. Anka Obrenoviæ, the Count Campo. Shishkin, the Russian Consul. Ignaccio, the Italian Consul. Philharmonic Society—M. Feodorovich, Voulatch. Milovouk of the Stoyans, Svetozar Vadim Radevoy en masse. The Turks were busy evacuating the fortress. Rezi Pasha was about to leave by order of the Sultan, and the Serbs celebrated their freedom. Michael Obrenoviæ was going to Constantinople to thank the Sultan.⁶ Cannons were fired 101 times. Serbian song dedicated to the Prince. Joanovich, the wretched superintendent of the Prince. The twenty-eight years old Metropolitan, educated in Moscow. Dirty and disgusting hotel. Steamers twice a day to Semlin on the opposite side.

Pancsova, Austria. 3 hours by steamer on the Danube. 20Nice, clean town, mixed population of Serbs and Germans. Many hotels and beautiful stores.

Semlin, 3 hours by steamer from Pancsova, a German and Serbian hole. Four days of boredom in the Hotel Venice, awaiting the steamer for Neusatz. Nice view of Belgrade on the opposite bank of the Danube. Many Captains of the Navy. Austrian officers flirting at the windows—in every house.

Neusatz, Novosad. Altogether Serbian town, few Hungarians (7 hours from Semlin along the Danube). Hotel Grüner Kranz, disgusting and thievish. Very nice Hotel Elizabeth. Popovich, newspaper editor. His wife—a Serbian actress of outstanding beauty. He speaks Russian and French. Mr. Vizkelety, his wife and two daughters, Irma and—decent Hungarians. Coffee Shop of Teremeich Domovladeko. His daughter Maria. The brothers are Orthodox. Joanovich, Stoyanovich and others. Mr. Isau, ex-tutor of the children of Grand Duke Michael (Mr. Vermily).

Becskerek. 2 hours by steamer to Titel, a dirty little place on the Theiss and 2 hours from the Danube. From there 3 hours by coach to Becskerek. The town is dirty and unsightly. Many Serbs and Hungarians, mainly Jews. The latter want the same rights as the Christians. Jewish delegation sent to the Hungarian Minister at Pesth. Count Andrássy refused. National Serbian theatre—the Tchizmar.

Eszék (Slavonia). From Becskerek to Titel (coach). Steamer to Neusatz, day and night on the steamer down to the mouth of the river Drava. Change of steamer and 3 hours upstream on the Drava to Eszék, consisting of three parts surrounding the Fort which is enormous. Oberstadt, Neustadt and Unterstadt. Almost entirely Serbian population. The Austrians and Hungarians are Catholics. Between 500 and 1,000 prisoners, both political and for other crimes. A very beautiful town, but very boring. One sees the whole day long groups of prisoners in chains marching along the streets, escorted by soldiers armed with rifles. Just a month ago 800 Italian political prisoners were 21released on demand from the Italian Government. The theatre in Oberstadt is a real gem, but the managers are ruined because the majority of the public here are officers who pay only 20 Kr. for admission, as everywhere else.⁷ Some years ago, when there was a famine in Serbia and Slavonia, the Austrians offered to the Orthodox people work, building roads, at the rate of 1 florin per day throughout the year, but on condition of embracing the Catholic faith; otherwise they would be left to starve. In the Fort the best hotel is Weisen Wolf, cheap. Here as in other cities Serbia, Slavonia and Austria, all the passers-by in the streets, men, women, aristocrats and commoners alike, greet you without knowing you; and the children add unfailingly: Küss die Hand—which was a great surprise to me. Well, we’ll submit to it all day long.

Verchetz, a very dirty large town, population entirely Serbian. Great trade in wine. Obradovich Kosta—all Russophiles. 2 hours by coach to Weisskirchen. A charming little town surrounded by vineyards. A quarter of an hour from Verchetz by train and the same from Bu . . . . . Serbians and Austrians detesting each other. Hôtel de Soleil, cheap and good. Breton, Bouletich and gluttony. Magnificent surroundings.

Horowitz. Half village, half town. Factories and working people. The place is buried in the mountains (Lower Banat); gold mines. The Government, however, having bought the ground from the Hungarians, is unable to get labourers, and one finds but 4 or 5 . . . . . . of gold per week. It resembles Borzhom.⁸ Sigr. Scoffa. Mr. Veuv. Bach. Wallachian and German population. 6 hours by coach from Weisskirchen.

Rechitza. Large and beautiful city with 5 or 6 factories employing five thousand workers, nearly all Prussians and English. Enormous iron ore mines. The French Company of Crédit Mobilier. The most beautiful country in the world, another Switzerland . . . . . . Mme. Borz, piano virtuoso. Her sisters. The Mack family. 8 hours by coach 22from Horowitz. Boundary of the High Banat, the most picturesque route in the universe. 14 hours by coach from Temesvár.

Temesvár — X.

Kikinda. Two hours by train from Temesvár; large village. Mme. Stoykovich and her nine daughters. Mr. Stefanovich, Colonel Anneti-Monti.

Hatzfeld. One hour by train from Kikinda.

Mehadia. Mineral baths. Only one street consisting of enormous and splendid hotels. Hercules Bad. Röber Hotel. The cave of the brigands with a tunnel reaching from Mehadia to Orsova. Famous legend about Ludwig, the chief of the brigands, who has given his name to the Spa. Splendid surroundings.

Körös-Maros Sebes. Frontier town, small, dirty and boring.

Lugos, nice Hungarian town.

[The following four items, written in Russian, are very likely the amounts paid by H.P.B. for her tickets:]

From Vienna to Gratz—8-25

From Vienna to Trieste—21-35

From T. to Venice—5-27

From Gratz to Laibach—7-20

—————

[The following Notes may be of interest in connection with H.P.B.’s Travel-Impressions:

Footnotes

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