Early in the new millenium, Blavatsky's Collected Works project got a welcome re-boot with the first installment of her collected letters. There are
134 letters, covering mainly a four-year period, 1875-78, the important seminal
years of the Theosophical Society and the writing of Isis Unveiled, in the United
States. Roughly three quarters of these letters have previously appeared in
various books of collected letters of hers, giving roughly 30 letters that are
more obscure, although almost all of the letters have been published; the only
exception being a short previously unpublished note to Olcott from the Adyar
archives in India (letter 29). There is a Canadian connection in that several
of the more obscure letters were reprinted in the late-lamented magazine The
Canadian Theosophist in the 1980s. The thoroughness in gathering all this
material together is impressive.
On a more
controversial note, the inclusion of possible forgeries or adulterated source material,
of which Blavatsky has been the victim, for purposes of defamation, on several
occasions. In most cases, a note indicating the problematic nature of the
letter is included. Fantastically, there is letter 7, an alleged letter of Blavatsky
offering her services to a secret government department as a spy for Russia.
Although the reference information in the letter seems fairly accurate, the
letter on the whole comes across as far-fetched and contrived and so is most
likely inauthentic, although the original copy has never been analyzed, which
is a shame. Ironically, this letter originally surfaced in 1986, shortly after
the Society for Psychical Research (SPR)
issued a publication analyzing the
infamous 1885 Hodgson report, the main source of her mainstream reputation
woes, largely exonerating her. This new letter has had considerable mileage in academic
circles.
The interesting
letters to Hurrichund Chintamon were transcribed by Eleanor Sidgwick on behalf
of the SPR, and although probably mostly authentic, there are some wonky
passages of questionable authenticity. A series of letters that do not have any
notes indicating problems of authenticity are the letters to A.N. Aksakov, a
Russian spiritualist writer, taken from Solovyov's
A Modern Priestess of Isis, which has a notoriously negative portrayal
of Blavatsky, most likely inspired by the Hodgson report, which entailed
probable adulteration of certain otherwise authentic letters. Although they
seem mostly authentic, the letter involving Andrew Jackson Davis in particular,
seems questionable. Since it is a rather touchy issue, a certain disclaimer might
have been appropriate. Since this problem had been amply covered previously, notably in Jean Overton Fuller's Blavatsky and her Teachers, it would have been a good opportunity to set the record straight. There are at least four distinct cases of forgery
problems with Blavatsky so perhaps a separate study on all of them would be
useful.
Of
particular interest are letters to Olcott (44), to W.S. Moses (59), and C.C.
Massey (65,74) which contain much interesting passages on esoteric philosophy, which, interestingly, shows that she was already acquainted with the distinctive theosophical tenets that were only published during and after her stay in India (It
is very regrettable that the considerable correspondence known to exist to the
latter two have been lost). Moreover, there are a half dozen lengthy letters to
her aunt Nadya de Fadeyev, both erudite and heartfelt. One small caveat is that
since many of the letters that deal with the mysterious character of John King,
concern a mysteriously produced painting, it would have been nice to include an
illustration of said painting, as it has survived.
Most of
the original Russian letters are previously unpublished translations by
original collected works editor Boris de Zirkoff and many letters have
benefited from verification with the archived originals. There is much helpful
historical notes and explanatory text as this hefty 600-page tome collects much
scattered material together for the first time, a treasure-trove of material
for both theosophists and historians alike. Volume two is eagerly awaited.
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