Fetching
One moment.
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.
1Trai que tu aies une sainte pensée ou du penchant pour Dieu , en sorte que tu veuilles entrer dans la vraie pénitence , il est sûr aussi que cette même pensée ne vient pas de toi-même , mais que é'est l'amour de Dieu qui te pénètre , et que la noble vierge .de Dieu ou sophir t'appelle par celte voie. Ne jnanque pas de venir, et ne diffère pas. Quand même les gi'ands péchés viendroient à ta rencontre sur cette voie, et te retiendroient en arrière, en sorte que ton cœur n'éprouvât fort souvent aucune consoJation , il n'en est par moins vrai que c'est un obstacle que le démon te jète dans tes pensées , comme par exemple que Dieuneveutpas t'écouter, et que lu es encore dans de trop grands péchés. Il ne veut point laisser entrer de consolation dans ton ame ; il protège par là le royaume pécheur de ce monde. Mais ne te laisse pas décourager 5 il est ton ennemi. Il est écrit : Quand vos péchés seroient rouges comme du sang , si vous vous convertissez ils deviendront comme de la laine, blancs comme la neige. De plus : Comme il est vrai que je vis , je ne désire point la mort des pauvres pécheurs ; mais qu'ils se convertissent et qu'ils vivent , dit le seigneur Dieu des armées. 35. Tu dois persévérer constamment dans cette résolution conçue , et quand même tu ne recevrois aucune force dans ton cœur , que même le démon pourroit enchaîner ta langue,, au point que tu no pusses pas prier Dieu , tu dois néanmoins dirigée vers lui tes désirs et tes soupirs j rester dans cette pensée , et persister toujours avec la femme cana-* «H. »4. ( 299 )
2lîéenne.PluS tu insisteras^ plus le démon deviendra foible ; tu dois prendre devant toiles soufiFrances, la mort et le paiement fait par Jésus-Christ,et envelopper ton ame dans sa promesse , dans laquelle Christ dit : ^on père donnera V esprit saint à ceux qui le prient pour cela. En outre :■ Demandez et vous rece' vrez , cherchez et vous trouverez ^frappez et Von vous ouvrira; et plus tu te dégageras du démon et de tes péchés , plus le royaume de Dieu pénétrera ea toi. Seulement il ne faiit point abandonner cette volonté , jusqu'à ce que tu aies obtenu le trésor , et même quand cela dureroit depuis le malin jusqu'au soir , et continueroit plusieurs jours ; si ta résolution est grande , il sera grand aussi le trésor que lu obtiendras dans la conquête. 36. Car personne ne sait ce que c'csl,excepté celui même qui l'éprouve. C'est un hôte précieux : quand il entre dans l'ame , il y a alors un admirable triomphe ; là l'époux embrasse sa chère épouse ; et il s'élève des chants de louange du paradis. Ah ! le corps terrestre même en doit tressaillir. Quoiqu'il ne sache pas ce qu'il y a là , cependant tous les membres S'en réjouissent. Ah ! quelles belles connoissances la vierge de la sagesse de Dieu ou sophie apporte avec elle ! Elle rend un homme savant ; et quand même ilseroît muet, l'ame est cependant couronnée dans les merveilles de Dieu , et elle doit parler de se:^ merveilles : il n'y a plus d'autre désir en elle; le démon doit se retirer , et est entièrement aiïoibli et abattu. 37. C'est ainsi qu'est semé le noble trésor et eu
3lui I41 précieuse perle ; mais fais y bien attention , il n'est pas aussitôt uq arbre. O l combien de fois le (démon va^t-ii se ruer dessus , el voudroit iofecter le grain de sénevé ! combien de rudes lempéies l'ame doit soutenir ! combien sera-t-elle souvent couverte de péchés ! car tout y dans ce monde , est contre ^1 lie ; elle est çpmine^elle étoit seule et abandonnée. Même les enfans de Pieu se rueut aussi sur elle ; car c'est ainsi que le démon afflige les pauvres âmes , pour tâcher de parvenir à le$ égarer. Il n'y a point avec lui de relâche , et il ne cesse d'enaployer l'hypocrisie , pour que l'ame elle - même puisse s'aveugler à la vue de ses péchés et par le trouble de sa conscience. Une faut pas que tu cesses de combattre contre lui: car c'est ainsi que croît l'arbre de la perle , comme la plante dans les orageuses pluies el les vents. Mais si cet arbre devient assez grand pour parvenir jusqu'à sa floraison , alors tu pourras jouir de ses fruits 9 et comprendre mieux ce que cette plumea écrit, et d'où elle est née. Car elle a aussi été long-tems dans celte situation* Plusieurs tempêtes sont venues sur elle ; c'est pourquoi ceci lui restera comme un ferme mémorial , et une continuelle méditation y puisque nous devons tous ici loger dans la caverne de voleurs du démon. Si seulement nous pouvions vaincre , une gr/ande récompense nous suivroit bientôt. ' 38. Maintenant la raison dit : Je ne vois cependant eu toi , ni dans tes semblables , aucune autre manière d'être , ni autre chose que ce que je vois dans les autres pauvre» pécheurs j il faut qu'il n'y es. 24. ( 3oi )
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.
1true that thou hast a holy thought or an inclination for God, so that thou wilt enter into the true penitence, it is sure also that this same thought comes not from thyself, but that it is the love of God which penetrates thee, and that the noble virgin of God or sophia calls thee by this way. Fail not to come, and defer not. Even though the great sins should come to meet thee upon this way, and should hold thee back, so that thy heart very often experienced no consolation, it is none the less true that it is an obstacle that the demon casts thee into thy thoughts, as for example that God will not hear thee, and that thou art still in too great sins. He will not let any consolation enter into thy soul; he protects thereby the sinful kingdom of this world. But let not thyself be discouraged 5 he is thy enemy. It is written: Though your sins were red as blood, if you convert yourselves they shall become as wool, white as the snow. Further: As it is true that I live, I desire not the death of the poor sinners; but that they convert themselves and that they live, says the lord God of hosts. 35. Thou must persevere constantly in this conceived resolution, and even though thou shouldst receive no force in thy heart, and though the demon might even chain thy tongue, to the point that thou couldst not pray to God, thou must nevertheless direct toward him thy desires and thy sighs; remain in this thought, and persist always with the woman Cana-* «H. »4. ( 299 )
2anitish. The more thou insistest, the more the demon will become feeble; thou must take before thee the sufferings, the death and the payment made by Jesus-Christ, and envelop thy soul in his promise, in which Christ says: My father will give the holy spirit to those who pray him for it. Besides: Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you; and the more thou disengagest thyself from the demon and from thy sins, the more the kingdom of God shall penetrate into thee. Only one must not abandon this will, until thou hast obtained the treasure, and even though that should last from the morning until the evening, and should continue several days; if thy resolution is great, it shall be great also the treasure that thou shalt obtain in the conquest. 36. For no one knows what it is, except the very one who experiences it. It is a precious host: when he enters into the soul, there is then an admirable triumph; there the spouse embraces his dear bride; and there rise chants of praise of the paradise. Ah! the terrestrial body itself must thrill at it. Although it know not what there is there, nevertheless all the members rejoice at it. Ah! what fair knowledges the virgin of the wisdom of God or sophia brings with her! She renders a man learned; and even though he were mute, the soul is nevertheless crowned in the marvels of God, and she must speak of these marvels: there is no other desire in her any more; the demon must withdraw, and is entirely weakened and beaten down. 37. It is thus that the noble treasure is sown and in
3him th41e precious pearl; but give good heed to it, it is not at once a tree. O! how often will the demon rush upon it, and would infect the grain of mustard-seed! how many rude tempests the soul must sustain! how often shall she be covered with sins! for all, in this world, is against ^1 her; she is as if she were alone and abandoned. Even the children of God rush also upon her; for it is thus that the demon afflicts the poor souls, to try to attain to lead them astray. There is with him no relaxation, and he ceases not to employ the hypocrisy, that the soul herself may blind herself at the sight of her sins and by the trouble of her conscience. Thou must not cease to combat against him: for it is thus that the tree of the pearl grows, as the plant in the stormy rains and the winds. But if this tree becomes great enough to attain to its flowering, then thou shalt be able to enjoy its fruits 9 and to comprehend better what this pen has written, and whence it is born. For it has also been long in this situation. Several tempests have come upon it; it is why this will remain to it as a firm memorial, and a continual meditation, since we must all lodge here in the cavern of thieves of the demon. If only we could conquer, a great recompense would follow us soon. ' 38. Now the reason says: I see however in thee, nor in thy like, no other manner of being, nor other thing than what I see in the other poor sinners; it must be that there is not es. 24. ( 3oi )
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.