Archibald Keightley was a prominent
member of the Royal College of Surgeons, a Master of Arts and a PhD in Medicine
from Cambridge, and he was also a great collaborator and student of Blavatsky when
she resided in England.
And about the elaboration of The
Secret Doctrine, he wrote the following:
« The first news I had of the new Blavatsky's work was the
advertisement in The Theosophist. I
was told in 1884 that Madame Blavatsky was engaged in writing a book, but I did
not know what. Then I heard that the book was to be called The Secret Doctrine, that various people had been consulted as to
its construction, and that all the moot points of Hindu Philosophy had been
submitted to the late T. Subba Row, who had also made various suggestions as to
its construction. Afterwards I found that he had done so, sketching out very
roughly an outline, but this was not followed.
Then came the news that Madame Blavatsky’s
health had broken down and that she was compelled to leave India to save her
life. I next heard of her as in Italy, at work, and finally at Wurzburg, whence
she came to Ostend.
Of the work done previous to my
going to Ostend I know nothing. From various causes it came about that I went to
Ostend to see H.P.B.; there I found her living with the Countess Wachtmeister,
hard at work writing from six a.m. till six p.m., only omitting very short
intervals for meals.
She wrote and slept in one room,
emerging to meals in the next room. When I arrived I learned that her
susceptibility to cold was so great that the utmost care had to be used in airing
her rooms during the winter.
Very soon after arriving I was
handed a part of the MSS. with a request to emendate, excise, alter the English,
punctuate, in fact treat it as my own, a privilege I naturally did not avail
myself of.
The MSS. was then in detached sections,
similar to those included under the heads of "Symbolism" and
"Appendices" in the published volumes. What I saw was a mass of MSS.
with no definite arrangement, much of which had been patiently and
industriously copied by the Countess Wachtmeister.
What struck me most in the part I
was able to read during my short stay was the enormous number of quotations
from various authors. I knew that there was no library to consult and I could
see that H.P.B.'s own books did not amount to thirty in all, of which several
were dictionaries and several works counted two or more volumes. At this time I
did not see the Stanzas of Dzyan, though
there were several pieces of the Occult Catechism included in the MSS.
The idea then was to keep one copy
in Europe, while the other went to India for correction by various native
collaborators. The greater part did go at a later date, but some cause prevented
the collaboration.
(Note: and the cause was that the
orthodox Brahmins did not want their hidden knowledge to be revealed to the
Western world, and so Subba Row, from being initially
a collaborator, later became an adversary.)
At a later date I again went to
Ostend to carry out the arrangements for bringing H.P.B. to England. The main
difficulty was to get her papers and books packed up. No sooner was one packed
than it was wanted for reference; if part of the MSS. were put in a box it was
certain to be that part which already contained some information which had to
be cut out and placed elsewhere: and as H.P.B. continued to write until the
very day before her departure, such was her unflagging industry, it was not an
easy matter to get her belongings packed.
When she arrived at Norwood the
reverse process went on, but the difficulty was to get unpacked quickly enough.
One day was yielded, but six a.m. of the following day found her at her table. All
through the summer of 1887 every day found her at work from six to six, with
intervals for meals only, visitors being with very rare exceptions denied or
told to come in the evening. The evenings were given up to talk and discussion,
and only on rare occasions was any writing done then.
All through that summer Bertram
Keightley and I were engaged in reading, re-reading, copying and correcting.
The last amounted to casting some of the sentences in English mould, for many
of them were "literal translations from the French." One remarkable
fact is worth noticing. It was not long before the genius loci [corrections made by Master Kuthumi] became apparent
and in most of the MSS. written after the date of arrival in England there was
very little of this kind of correction needed.
Many of the quotations had to be
verified, and here we should have been lost if it had not been for a hint from
H.P.B. She told us one night that sometimes in writing down quotations, which
for the purpose of the book had been impressed on the Astral Light before her,
she forgot to reverse the figures — for instance page 123 would be allowed to remain
321 and so on. With this in mind verification was easier, for one was puzzled
on examining all editions in the British Museum to find in several cases that
the books did not contain the number of pages. With the reversal matters were
straightened out and the correct places found.
Much of the MSS. was type-written at
this period. This was H.P.B.'s opportunity. The spaces were large and much
could be inserted. Needless to say, it was. The thick type-MSS. were cut,
pasted, recut and pasted several times over, until several of them were twice
the size of the original MSS. But in it all was apparent that no work and no
trouble, no suffering or pain could daunt her from her task. Crippled with
rheumatism, suffering from a disease which had several times nearly proved
fatal, she still worked on unflaggingly, writing at her desk the moment her
eyes and fingers could guide the pen.
Then came the time of the founding
of Lucifer, This work had to be added
to that of writing The Secret Doctrine.
As for the articles for Russian papers there were constant and imploring
demands. None were to be had, for the pressure of other work was too great.
In September came the move to
London, to Lansdowne Road. This was not so bad, for the books and papers could
be arranged, packed and unpacked, and re-arranged the same day. The same method
of work was followed and day succeeded day until the time came for going to
press.
During the greater part of the
period in London H.P.B. had the assistance of E.D. Fawcett, especially in those
parts of the second volume dealing with the evolutionary hypotheses. He
suggested, corrected, and wrote, and several pages of his MSS. were
incorporated by H.P.B. into her work.
Needless to say our work went on. We
had to carry the general scheme (if it would be called such in a work which was
professedly a foe to the process of crystallization of thought) in our heads.
We had to draw H.P.B.'s attention to the repetitions occurring in the isolated
sections, and so far as possible in this way to act as watchdogs and help her
to make the meaning as clear as possible. But all the work was hers. A few
stops here and there, a few suggestions, the correction of a French-spelled
word, was ours; the rest was H.P.B.'s own, and all was approved by her.
During this period in London came
inevitable interruptions; H.P.B. might try as she would, but friends and
curiosity-seekers would not all be denied. Then, too, there was Lucifer with
its regular monthly "Stand and Deliver" so much time and copy;
Blavatsky Lodge and other meetings; letters to read and answer — all interfered
with work. Failing health and strength came, and it was an increasing task to
rise so early or to work so late. Still time continued and work went on, and
the estimates of printers were examined.
Certain requirements as to size of
page and margin were particular points with H.P.B., as also were the thickness
and quality of paper. Some of her critics had disliked the thickness of Isis Unveiled so the paper had to be
thinner so as to reduce the size.
These points decided, the book began
to go to press. It so happened that I was called into the country and so did
not see the first half or more of the first volume as it passed. But it went
through three or four other hands besides H.P.B.'s in galley proof, as well as
in revise. She was her own most severe corrector, and was liable to treat
revise as MSS., with alarming results in the correction item in the bill.
Then came the writing of the preface, and finally the book was out. The
period of work and excitement was over and all was quiet till the first copy
was delivered. »
(“Reminiscences
of H.P. Blavatsky and “The Secret Doctrine” by Countess Wachtmeister and others,
appendix I-2, p.96-100)
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