In PDF, the 1930 Edition of a
Little-Known Book, First Published in Russian
Helena P. Blavatsky
“Unique, inspiring, nice
to read and most valuable”
A 2018 Editorial Note:
This book
presents unsolved bibliographical questions.
The present online edition reproduces the 1930 volume
of 227 pages published by “Theosophical Press” in Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
First published in Russian, the work is also entitled
“Enigmatical Tribes”. Boris de Zirkoff writes:
“The Russian text of the ‘Enigmatical Tribes’ together
with ‘The Durbar at Lahore’ were both published in book form by Gubinsky at St.
Petersburg in 1898. Madame Vera P. de Zhelihovsky, H.P.B.’s sister, contributed
to this edition a biographical sketch of the author. It contains, as
frontispiece, a little-known portrait of H.P.B.
This edition was republished by Olga Dyakova & Co. at Berlin in
1925.”
Zirkoff proceeds:
“A rather faulty and incomplete English translation of
the ‘Enigmatical Tribes’ appeared in The
Theosophist (April, 1909 - November, 1910) under the title of ‘Mysterious
Tribes’. It is supposed to have been a translation from a German version
published by Arthur Weber at Leipzig in 1908. It was published in book form by
the Theosophical Press, Wheaton, Ill., in 1930, under the title of The People of the Blue Mountains.”
However, contrary to what Boris suggests, this 1930
edition is not the same text published in “The Theosophist” in 1909-1910: the
differences between them are profound and easy to see.[1]
In 2018, the 1930 edition of “The People of the Blue
Mountains” is a rare volume and difficult to obtain in paper, except for its
photocopies sold as books by Kessinger Publishing Co. The present online version reproduces the only
edition in book form in English of the work by Helena Blavatsky.
While the outward text of the present translation may
be imperfect, “The People of the Blue
Mountains” is certainly unique, inspiring, nice to read and most valuable. It
has a significant place in esoteric literature and deserves the thoughtful
reading of every student of theosophy.
(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)
NOTE:
[1] Zirkoff goes on to say:
“A better, but still somewhat faulty, translation by
Vera Johnston, entitled The Magicians of
the Blue Hills, exists in the form of page-proofs; it bears the date of New
York, 1897, but does not seem to have actually appeared in print. A French
translation of Mark Semenoff entitled Au
Pays des Montagnes Bleues (255 pages), was published at Paris in 1926 by
the Editions du Monde Moderne. There is some indication that this French
rendering was re-translated into English at a later date. A German translation
by Arthur Weber entitled Rätsel-hafte
Volkstämme appeared at Leipzig in 1908. A new edition of it was published
by J. J. Couvreur at The Hague, Holland, 1970 (xii, 255 pp.).”
(From the article “The Writings of H.P. Blavatsky in
Russian”, by Boris de Zirkoff, which opens the book “From the Caves and Jungles
of Hindostan”, by H. P. Blavatsky, TPH, USA, 720 pages, p. xxxviii.)
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The book “The People of the Blue Mountains” was
published in our associated websites on 8 May 2018.
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See the article “Blavatsky and the Blue Mountains”,
by Joana Maria Pinho.
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On 14 September 2016, a group of students decided to
found the Independent Lodge of
Theosophists. Two of the priorities adopted by the ILT are learning from the past and building a better
future.
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