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.
1teinture est donc engendrée de l'ame , désormais, en sexe masculin et féminin. Elle est si subtile et si puissante qu'elle va dans le cœur d'un autre , ou dans sa teinture , ce que les magiciens démoniaques savent bien; mais ils n'entendent poiut le noblo art , au contraire , ils emploient la teinture dtt démon , et ils en infectent beaucoup dans la moelle et dans les os , par leurs encliantemens S ils en recevront leur récompense comme Lucifeir qui vouloit élever sa teinture au-dessus de Dieu.* 38. Ainsi , sachez que dans Thomme la teinture n'est pas tout-à-faît la même que dans la femme ; car, dans les hommes , la teinture sort du limbus , ou du mâle; et dans la femme , la teinture sort de la matrice. En effet , non-seulement la force de l'ame se peint dans la teinture , mais celle du corps entier ; car le corps croît dans la teinture. 39. Or xlonc , la ieinture est un penchant, un grand attract pour sophie , laquelle sophie appartient à la teinture: car cette teinture est subtile , sans intelligence j elle est l'inclination vers Dieu , el «herche toujours 'la sothie, sa compagne. I^ masculine la cherche dans la féminine, et la féminine dans la masculine; particulièrement dans les coinp^exious délicates , où la teinture est entièrement noble, claire et ardente : c'est de là,que vient le grand désir des sexes masculins et féminins , de façon que chacun souhaite de s'unir avec l'autre ; de là vient aussi le brûlant et violent amour pour que les teintures se mêlent ainsi l'une et l'autre , el ie transmettent réciproquement leur goût délicieux^ en. i3t C 2^7 ) là chacune des deux présume que l'autre a 'la vierge SOPHIE.
240. Et l'esprit du grand monde croit qu'il a maintenant conquis la sophie : il s'étend avec ses griffes;, il veut mêler son infection avec la sophie , et pense qu'il a atteint son objet. Il ne veut plus s'en éloigner ; il compte bien qu'il trouvera la perle, mais il lui en arrive comme à un voleur qui est chassé d'un beau jardin de dclices , où il a mangé des fruits d'un excellent goût ; ainsi il va et vient autour du jardin fermé; il mangeroit bien volontiers encore des bons fruits , mais il ne peut entrer : enfin , il faut qu'il allonge la main en-dedans, et il ne peut attraper les fruits ; car le jardinier vient, et lui ôte les fruits de la main, alors il faut qu'il s'en aille à vide , et son al tract se transforme en dégoût. Il en est de même de l'esprit du grand monde ; il scme ainsi , dans son attract brûlant, le grain dans la matrice : or , la teinture le reçoit avec une grande joie, présumant que c'est la vierge sophie ; mais l'âpre fiât e&t au-dessus de lui, et le tire à soi, tandis que la ieinture est si joyeu2»e. 41. Toutefois , la teinture (éminine vi/eat aussi à «OH secours ; elle se remplit d'ardeur pour le cher enfaàt : elle croit tenir la sophie , et les deux teintures combattent l'une et l'autre pour avoir la flOPfiiE ; et cependant aucune ne Ta. Or , celle qui surmonte l'autre est celle d'aprèts laquelle le fruit reçoit la marque ou le sexe ; mais comme la femma est foible , elle prend le «ang avec ^le , dans k ma- ( 238 ) €H. i3trîce , par le moyen duquel elle suppose qu'elle retiendra la vierge sophie. La porte secrète de la femme,
342. Ici je dois montrer la base à ceux qui cherclient , car le docteur ne peut pas la leur montrer avec son analomie ; et , quand il dissèqueroit mille hommes, il ne la trouveroit cependant pas : il n'y a que celui qui y est arrivé qui la connoisse. 43. C'est pourquoi je veux écrire de la vierge SOPHIE qui sait bien ce qu'il y a dans la femme cette vierge est aussi subtile qne la teinture , mais elle a une vie, et la teinture n'en a point; car elle n'est seulement qu'un règne joyeux qui s'élève, une volonté puissante, une demeure de l'ame , un paradis délicieux de l'ame ; et elle est la propriété de Tame tant que l'ame est attachée à Dieu j par son imagination et sa volonté. 44. Mais, si cette ame devient fausse, de manière que ses essences se jouent à l'esprit du grand monde, et désirent de la plénitude de ce monde ; savoir, dans l'astringence : d'avoir de grandes richesses, de boire et manger beaucoup, et de se remplir sans cesse ; dans l'amertume : d'avoir une grande puissance, de parvenir aux plus hautes dignités, de dominer impérieusement, de s'élever au-dessus de tout , et de se faire voir telle qu'une folle épouse ; dans la source du feu : de se livrer à une puissance colérique , avec l'enflammement CH. i3. ( a39 )
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.
1tincture is then begotten of the soul, henceforth, in masculine and feminine sex. It is so subtle and so powerful that it goes into the heart of another, or into his tincture, which the demoniac magicians know well; but they understand not the noble art, on the contrary, they employ the tincture of the demon, and they infect many therewith in the marrow and in the bones, by their enchantments; they will receive their recompense as Lucifer who would raise his tincture above God. 38. Thus, know that in man the tincture is not quite the same as in the woman; for, in men, the tincture goes forth from the limbus, or from the male; and in the woman, the tincture goes forth from the matrix. In effect, not only the force of the soul paints itself in the tincture, but that of the entire body; for the body grows in the tincture. 39. Now then, the tincture is an inclination, a great attract for Sophia, which Sophia belongs to the tincture: for this tincture is subtle, without intelligence; it is the inclination toward God, and seeks always the Sophia, its companion. The masculine seeks her in the feminine, and the feminine in the masculine; particularly in the delicate complexions, where the tincture is entirely noble, clear and ardent: it is thence that comes the great desire of the masculine and feminine sexes, so that each wishes to unite himself with the other; thence comes also the burning and violent love so that the tinctures mingle thus one with the other, and transmit reciprocally their delicious taste, en. i3t C 2^7 ) there each of the two presumes that the other has the virgin SOPHIA.
240. And the spirit of the great world believes that it has now conquered the Sophia: it stretches itself out with its claws, it will mingle its infection with the Sophia, and thinks that it has attained its object. It will withdraw from it no more; it reckons well that it will find the pearl, but it happens to it as to a thief who is driven from a fair garden of delights, where he has eaten fruits of an excellent taste; thus he goes and comes about the closed garden; he would indeed willingly eat again of the good fruits, but he cannot enter: at last, he must reach his hand within, and he cannot catch the fruits; for the gardener comes, and takes the fruits from his hand, then he must go away empty, and his attract transforms itself into disgust. It is the same with the spirit of the great world; it sows thus, in its burning attract, the grain in the matrix: now, the tincture receives it with a great joy, presuming that it is the virgin Sophia; but the harsh fiat is above it, and draws it to itself, whilst the tincture is so joyou2s. 41. Nevertheless, the feminine tincture comes also to its succour; it fills itself with ardour for the dear child: it believes it holds the Sophia, and the two tinctures combat one and the other to have the SOPHIA; and nevertheless neither has her. Now, that which overcomes the other is that after which the fruit receives the mark or the sex; but as the woman is feeble, she takes the blood with her, in the ma- ( 238 ) €H. i3trix, by means of which she supposes that she will retain the virgin Sophia. The secret gate of the woman,
342. Here I must show the base to those who seek, for the doctor cannot show it to them with his anatomy; and, though he should dissect a thousand men, he would nevertheless not find it: there is none but he who has arrived there that knows it. 43. That is why I will write of the virgin SOPHIA who knows well what there is in the woman. This virgin is as subtle as the tincture, but she has a life, and the tincture has none; for it is only a joyous reign that rises, a powerful will, a dwelling of the soul, a delicious paradise of the soul; and it is the property of the soul so long as the soul is attached to God by its imagination and its will. 44. But, if this soul become false, in such manner that its essences play to the spirit of the great world, and desire of the plenitude of this world; to wit, in the astringency: to have great riches, to drink and eat much, and to fill itself without ceasing; in the bitterness: to have a great power, to attain to the highest dignities, to rule imperiously, to raise itself above all, and to show itself such as a foolish spouse; in the source of the fire: to give itself up to a choleric power, with the inflaming CH. i3. ( a39 )
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.