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Eleven books by a shoemaker of Görlitz who wrote, by his own account, because he could not help it. Ten of them stand here in the seventeenth-century English of John Sparrow, who translated Boehme within a generation of his death and whose prose is itself now four hundred years old; where that English has drifted out of reach, the facing pane carries a modern register — the same text with archaic inflection and spelling normalised by rule, never paraphrased. Nothing is reworded, and where no register appears beside a passage it is because the rules found nothing to change.
The eleventh book is not in English at all, and it is the reason this note exists.
Des trois principes de l'essence divine, printed at Paris in 1802, is the same work as Concerning the Three Principles of the Divine Essence, which stands here as the second book — the same twenty-seven chapters in the same order, opening `Du premier principe de l'essence divine` against Sparrow's `Of the first Principle of the Divine Essence`. Its translator was Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, who gave the last years of his life to putting Boehme into French, and who has a shelf of his own in this Lycaeum.
That makes a closed circuit inside this archive, and it is worth naming plainly. Saint-Martin translates Boehme. La Iniciación, printed in Montevideo a hundred and forty years later, traces its own descent through Saint-Martin. A reader can therefore follow one thread from a German mystic of 1619, through the French philosopher who carried him into another language, to a Spanish-language monthly of the 1940s that claimed them both — and read every step of it in the original.
The two are shelved as one work rather than two because that is what they are. They are not set as facing panes: an English translation of 1619 and a French translation of 1802 are two independent readings of a lost German original, and pairing them line by line would assert a correspondence neither translator ever claimed.
1plus aisément; cependant il jr a une épée devant • car celui qui trouve la voie, l'épée ne le blessa pas beaucoup, comme élan, émoussée et courbée -si seulement l'ame entre dans la por.e dans le centra, e^^e es. bientôt secourue par le noble défenseuj Chris attendu qu'il a reçu l'épée dans sa maTn Il es. l'agneau égorgé de la maison d'Israël ( Apo-" calipsede Jean,chap.3 e,5), quia pris le ifvre du Vnncipe s.able.de la main de l'ancien , assi! M^son siège avec les vingt-quatre vieillards , equel ^'gneau avo.t les sept sceaux des sept espri s dl la génera,«,n de Dieu , et ouvrit les sceau J Alors ,! vieillards se prosternèrent devant lui , iU adorèrent lagneau égorgé, e. donnèren. louange e. honneur à celui qui e,o.. sur le .rône, de ce que le héros de a maison d Israël avoi. vaincu. Les sep. cliandehersdor sont son humanité, les sept étoiles sont sa divinité , conformément à ce que la géuéra.ioa divine consis.e en soi en sep. formes , ainsi que cela es. exposé dans le commencemen. de ce livre dans les qua.re prenyers chapi.res. ' 48- Ainsi Moïse a un voile devant lesjeux. Veuxtu le regarder en face ? Il ne faut que prendre Christ pour ton héros , afin qu'il lui Ole son voile: alors tu verra, que Moïse n'avoi. point de cornes mais quil éto.t un agneau humble, lié for.emen.àla monde Christ, et que son voile a été le livre fermé de façon que nous ne pouvions pas nous rétablir, jusqu'à ce que le héros vin. e. rompît ses *ep, sceaux par son en.rée dans la mor.. Alors le voile fu. oté, et dans le Uvre se trouva le Saint- ^ ( 184 ) ^"- ^° Evangile du royaume de Dieu , que nous a laissé lo très précieux conquérant Jésus-Chrisf.
249. Or donc, lorsqu'Adam et Eve sortirent du jardin , ils vécurent ensemble , comme font encore les gens mariés , et voulurent essayer , dans leur bestiale condition , quelles merveilles pourroient toutefois provenir d'euxicar l'esprit du grand monde les avoit alors bien instruits dans leur raison dç ee çiu'ils dévoient faire. 50. Adam connut sa femme Eve ; elle devint enceinte , elle engendra un fils , et le nomma Caïn ; car elle dit : J'ai Vhomme^ qui est le souverain. Ces paroles scellées sont ceci : Moïse écrit qu'elle a dit qu'elle a l'homme, qui est le souverain. Or le grand inonde dit : J'ai le souverain de ce monde. Eve ne dit autre chose que ce que les apôtres pensoient: Que le Christ élabliroit un règne temporel. Eve le pensa de même j savoir : que son fils , en valeureux chevalier, devoit briser la tête au démon , et établir lin règne de souveraineté ; c'est de-là qu'ensuite est résultée une double intelligence , et une doubla église, l'une delà miséricorde de Dieu , et l'autre de la puissance personnelle. C'est pourquoi Caïn ne pouvoit supporter son frère , puisqu'Abel s'appuyoit sur la miséricorde de Dieu , et Caïn sur sa propre puissance. Il pensoit qu'il étoil le souveraiu de tout l'Univers , selon que sa mère l'en avoit instruit. Ainsi il vouloit, dans sa propre puissance , briser la téie du serpent , comme un homme d« guerre, et il commença par son frère Abel ; car sa foi n'éloit point appuyée sur Dieu, mais sur sa CH. 20. ( 14^ j qualité d'homme : et ici , pour la première fois , te serpent piqua le briseur de serpent au talon. La porte des mystères,
35r. La raison dit : Comment a-t-il pu arriver que le premier homme engendré de la femme fût un méchant meurtrier? Vois, toi, monde impudique, viletproslilué, tu trouves ici un miroir, regarde ce que tu es. Ici de grands mystères se présentent de rechef à nous très visiblement , étant faciles à reconnoître dans la lumière de la nature; car Adam et Eve étoient entrés dans l'esprit de ce monde. La colérique région des étoiles, ainsi que Vimjualification du démon les avoit possédés ; ef quoiqu'ils se tinssent alors un peu attachés à la promesse du briseur de serpent , et à Dieu , cependant leur vrai attract et leur vrai amour envers Dieu éloitbien aflfoibli. Au contraire l'altract et le désir de ce monde étoient allumés en eux; en outre ils reçurent de la région des étoiles un penchant bestial l'un pour l'autre, de façon que par -là leur teinture devint un colérique attract animal ; car ils ii'avoient d'autre;loi que la lumière de la nature qu'ils avoieut précipitée avec eux, et ils s'enflammèrent dans leur ardeur : d'ailleurs le démon ne manqua pas de les seconder. 52. Enfin lorsqu'Eve devint enceinte , sa teinture devint fausse et terrestre; car, dans sou amour, son esprit ne regarda pas vers Dieu avec une enlitre fidélité : alors la sagesse de Dieu resta cachée Ix^ dans le centre de la lumière de sa vie. Eve ne s'unit pas là par l'amour et la confiance , mais bien plu» par Taltrail de co monde ; elle se persuada que si quelque chose devoil être, c'étoit à elle à l'opérer ; et comme sa confi^ance n'étoit point en Dieu , Dieu aussi ne fut point en elle, mais il demeura dans son centre , et la colère commença à sourcer.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1more easily; nevertheless there is a sword before; for he who finds the way, the sword wounds him not much, being blunted and bent; if only the soul enters into the gate into the centre, it is soon succoured by the noble defender Christ, seeing that he has received the sword into his hand. He is the lamb slaughtered of the house of Israel ( Apocalipse of John, chap. 3 and 5 ), who has taken the book of the stable principle from the hand of the ancient, seated upon his seat with the twenty-four elders, which lamb had the seven seals of the seven spirits of the generation of God, and opened the seals. Then the elders prostrated themselves before him, they adored the slaughtered lamb, and gave praise and honour to him who was upon the throne, because the hero of the house of Israel had vanquished. The seven candlesticks of gold are his humanity, the seven stars are his divinity, conformably to what the divine generation consists in itself in seven forms, as that is exposed in the beginning of this book in the four first chapters. 48- Thus Moses has a veil before the eyes. Wilt thou look at him in the face? One need only take Christ for thy hero, so that he may take off his veil: then thou wilt see that Moses had no horns, but that he was a humble lamb, bound strongly to the world Christ, and that his veil has been the closed book, so that we could not re-establish ourselves, until the hero came and broke its seven seals by his entry into death. Then the veil was taken off, and in the book was found the Holy ( 184 ) ^"- ^° Gospel of the kingdom of God, that the very precious conqueror Jesus-Christ has left us.
249. Now then, when Adam and Eve went out of the garden, they lived together, as married people still do, and would try, in their bestial condition, what marvels might however proceed from them; for the spirit of the great world had then well instructed them in their reason of what they were to do. 50. Adam knew his wife Eve; she became with child, she begot a son, and named him Cain; for she said: I have the man, who is the sovereign. These sealed words are this: Moses writes that she said that she has the man, who is the sovereign. Now the great world says: I have the sovereign of this world. Eve said nothing else than what the apostles thought: That the Christ would establish a temporal reign. Eve thought the same; to wit: that her son, as a valorous knight, was to break the head of the demon, and establish a reign of sovereignty; it is thence that afterward has resulted a double intelligence, and a double church, the one of the mercy of God, and the other of personal power. That is why Cain could not bear his brother, since Abel leaned upon the mercy of God, and Cain upon his own power. He thought that he was the sovereign of all the Universe, according as his mother had instructed him therein. Thus he would, in his own power, break the head of the serpent, as a man of war, and he began by his brother Abel; for his faith was not leaned upon God, but upon his CH. 20. ( 14^ j quality of man: and here, for the first time, the serpent stung the bruiser of the serpent in the heel. The gate of the mysteries,
35r. Reason says: How could it have come to pass that the first man begotten of the woman was a wicked murderer? See, thou, unchaste world, vile and prostituted, thou findest here a mirror, look at what thou art. Here great mysteries present themselves afresh to us very visibly, being easy to recognise in the light of nature; for Adam and Eve had entered into the spirit of this world. The choleric region of the stars, as well as the inqualification of the demon had possessed them; and although they held themselves then a little attached to the promise of the bruiser of the serpent, and to God, nevertheless their true attract and their true love toward God was indeed enfeebled. On the contrary the attract and the desire of this world were kindled in them; besides they received from the region of the stars a bestial inclination the one for the other, so that thereby their tincture became a choleric animal attract; for they had no other law than the light of nature that they had precipitated with them, and they inflamed themselves in their ardour: besides the demon did not fail to second them. 52. At last when Eve became with child, her tincture became false and terrestrial; for, in her love, her spirit looked not toward God with an entire fidelity: then the wisdom of God remained hidden Ix^ in the centre of the light of her life. Eve united herself not there by love and confidence, but rather by the attract of this world; she persuaded herself that if something was to be, it was for her to operate it; and as her confidence was not in God, God also was not in her, but he remained in his centre, and the anger began to source.
Our translation, period-faithful. Citable as our translation, never as the source.
Saint-Martin's French rendering of Boehme's 'Von den drei Principien göttlichen Wesens'. The same work stands in this estate in English as boehme:2. The title page also advertises 'L'Aurore naissante, du même Auteur' from the same booksellers — Saint-Martin's translation of the Aurora, whose English counterpart the estate holds as boehme:1. Reading the two versions against each other shows what a Martinist made of a German shoemaker's theosophy.
→ boehme:2
This work carries, in the author's own voice, both a set of hostile comparisons drawn against named peoples and an explicit refusal of any such boundary, and the Press publishes both rather than either alone. At Ch.25 §85 he calls the Jews blind; at Ch.17 §106 he warns of a coming visitation of the Jews and the Turks; and at Ch.26 §32-33, asked whence the Turks are grown, he answers "From thy perverted sense" — laying the rise of Mahomet at the door of christian pride and disputation. Against these stands Ch.25 §72, which opens the grace with no boundary at all: all men are invited to it, of whatever race, "whether Turks, Jews, Pagans, Christians", and no one is excluded. The same chapter that indicts turns the indictment inward at §105-106 — each believes not to dwell in Babel, and the author includes himself — and §33 concludes that God should be as near the one as the other. The contradiction is the author's, it is not resolved by him, and removing either half would misrepresent the work. Operator ruling, 2026-08-29.
This work carries, in the author's own voice, both a set of hostile comparisons drawn against named peoples and an explicit refusal of any such boundary, and the Press publishes both rather than either alone. At Ch.25 §85 he calls the Jews blind; at Ch.17 §106 he warns of a coming visitation of the Jews and the Turks; and at Ch.26 §32-33, asked whence the Turks are grown, he answers "From thy perverted sense" — laying the rise of Mahomet at the door of christian pride and disputation. Against these stands Ch.25 §72, which opens the grace with no boundary at all: all men are invited to it, of whatever race, "whether Turks, Jews, Pagans, Christians", and no one is excluded. The same chapter that indicts turns the indictment inward at §105-106 — each believes not to dwell in Babel, and the author includes himself — and §33 concludes that God should be as near the one as the other. The contradiction is the author's, it is not resolved by him, and removing either half would misrepresent the work. Operator ruling, 2026-08-29.
This work carries, in the author's own voice, both a set of hostile comparisons drawn against named peoples and an explicit refusal of any such boundary, and the Press publishes both rather than either alone. At Ch.25 §85 he calls the Jews blind; at Ch.17 §106 he warns of a coming visitation of the Jews and the Turks; and at Ch.26 §32-33, asked whence the Turks are grown, he answers "From thy perverted sense" — laying the rise of Mahomet at the door of christian pride and disputation. Against these stands Ch.25 §72, which opens the grace with no boundary at all: all men are invited to it, of whatever race, "whether Turks, Jews, Pagans, Christians", and no one is excluded. The same chapter that indicts turns the indictment inward at §105-106 — each believes not to dwell in Babel, and the author includes himself — and §33 concludes that God should be as near the one as the other. The contradiction is the author's, it is not resolved by him, and removing either half would misrepresent the work. Operator ruling, 2026-08-29.