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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.
1much; viz. the astringent quality attracted or compacted the body too hard together, so that the sweet water was dried up. 149. And the powerful and great bright flash, which was risen up in the sweet water in the heat, from whence the bitter quality existeth in the sweet water, that rubbed itself so horribly hard with the astringent quality, as if it would break in pieces for great joy. 150. For the flash was so bright, that it was as it were intolerable to the qualifying or fountain spirits, and therefore the bitter quality or source trembled and rubbed itself so hard in the astrin gent, that the heat was kindled contrary to the right of nature, and the astringent also dried up the sweet water by its hard attracting together. 151. But now the quality of heat was so severe, furious and eager, that it bereaved the astringent quality or source of its power; for the heat existeth in the fountain or source of the sweet water. 152. But the sweet water being dried up through the astringent attracting together, therefore could not the heat any more rise to a flame or to any light (for the light existeth in the unctuosity or oiliness of the water), but glowed like a redhot iron, or like iron not quite glowing, but very dimly and darkly; or as if you should put a very hard stone into the fire, and should let it lie there in great heat as long as you please, yet it would not be glowing light, because it hath too little water or oiliness in it. 153. Thus now the heat kindled the dried water, and the light could no more elevate and kindle itself, for the water was dried up, and was quite consumed by the fire or great heat.
2154. The meaning is not here, as if the spirit of the water were swallowed up or devoured, which dwelleth in all the seven qualities, but its quality or upper place or predominancy was changed into a dusky hot and sour quality. 155. For here in this place the sour quality hath taken its first original and beginning, which now also is inherited in this world, which is not in heaven in God after such a manner at all, nor in any angel; for it is and signifieth the house of affliction, trouble and misery, and is a forgetfulness of all good. 156. Now when this was done, the qualifying or fountain spirits rubbed themselves one upon another in that manner and way as I have mentioned above, concerning the figure of the sevenfold wheel, for they ever do, and rise up one in another, to taste one another, or to affect one another, from whence life and love exist. 157. Now in all the spirits there was nothing else but a mere hot, fiery, cold and hard corruption, and so one evil quality tasted the others, whereby the whole body grew so very fierce and wrathful; for the heat was against the cold, and the cold against the heat. 158. So the sweet water being dried up, the bitter quality (which existed and was generated by the first flash, when the light kindled itself) rose up in the body through all the spirits, as if it would destroy the body, and so raved and raged like the rankest or worst poison. 159. From thence existed the first poison, wherein we poor men now in this world have enough to chew upon, and thereby the bitter poisonous death is come into the flesh.
3160. Now in this raging and tearing the life of Lucifer was generated, that is, his dear little son in the circle or centre of his heart; and what manner of life and dear little son came to be, I offer to any rational soul to consider of. 161. For such as the father was, such was the son also, viz. a dark, astringent, cold, hard, bitter, hot, sour, stinking fountain or source, and the love stood in the bitter quality, in its penetrating taste and relish, and became an enmity against all the qualifying or fountain spirits in the body of the highminded arrogant king. 162. Thus the tone rose up through the penetrating of the bitter quality through the heat and dried water, and through the astringent hard quality, into the heart, into the little, new, dear son. 163. Here the spirit went forth, and as he was generated in the heart, so he went forth now at the mouth; but how welcome a guest he was before God, and in God, also before the holy angels of the other kingdoms, I leave to thee to consider of. 164. He should now have united with the Son of God, as one heart and one God: Alas for ever! Who can write or express this sufficiently?
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.
1much; viz. the astringent quality attracted or compacted the body too hard together, so that the sweet water was dried up. 149. And the powerful and great bright flash, which was risen up in the sweet water in the heat, from whence the bitter quality existeth in the sweet water, that rubbed itself so horribly hard with the astringent quality, as if it would break in pieces for great joy. 150. For the flash was so bright, that it was as it were intolerable to the qualifying or fountain spirits, and therefore the bitter quality or source trembled and rubbed itself so hard in the astrin gent, that the heat was kindled contrary to the right of nature, and the astringent also dried up the sweet water by its hard attracting together. 151. But now the quality of heat was so severe, furious and eager, that it bereaved the astringent quality or source of its power; for the heat existeth in the fountain or source of the sweet water. 152. But the sweet water being dried up through the astringent attracting together, therefore could not the heat any more rise to a flame or to any light (for the light existeth in the unctuosity or oiliness of the water), but glowed like a redhot iron, or like iron not quite glowing, but very dimly and darkly; or as if you should put a very hard stone into the fire, and should let it lie there in great heat as long as you please, yet it would not be glowing light, because it hath too little water or oiliness in it. 153. Thus now the heat kindled the dried water, and the light could no more elevate and kindle itself, for the water was dried up, and was quite consumed by the fire or great heat.
2154. The meaning is not here, as if the spirit of the water were swallowed up or devoured, which dwelleth in all the seven qualities, but its quality or upper place or predominancy was changed into a dusky hot and sour quality. 155. For here in this place the sour quality hath taken its first original and beginning, which now also is inherited in this world, which is not in heaven in God after such a manner at all, nor in any angel; for it is and signifieth the house of affliction, trouble and misery, and is a forgetfulness of all good. 156. Now when this was done, the qualifying or fountain spirits rubbed themselves one upon another in that manner and way as I have mentioned above, concerning the figure of the sevenfold wheel, for they ever do, and rise up one in another, to taste one another, or to affect one another, from whence life and love exist. 157. Now in all the spirits there was nothing else but a mere hot, fiery, cold and hard corruption, and so one evil quality tasted the others, whereby the whole body grew so very fierce and wrathful; for the heat was against the cold, and the cold against the heat. 158. So the sweet water being dried up, the bitter quality (which existed and was generated by the first flash, when the light kindled itself) rose up in the body through all the spirits, as if it would destroy the body, and so raved and raged like the rankest or worst poison. 159. From thence existed the first poison, wherein we poor men now in this world have enough to chew upon, and thereby the bitter poisonous death is come into the flesh.
3160. Now in this raging and tearing the life of Lucifer was generated, that is, his dear little son in the circle or centre of his heart; and what manner of life and dear little son came to be, I offer to any rational soul to consider of. 161. For such as the father was, such was the son also, viz. a dark, astringent, cold, hard, bitter, hot, sour, stinking fountain or source, and the love stood in the bitter quality, in its penetrating taste and relish, and became an enmity against all the qualifying or fountain spirits in the body of the highminded arrogant king. 162. Thus the tone rose up through the penetrating of the bitter quality through the heat and dried water, and through the astringent hard quality, into the heart, into the little, new, dear son. 163. Here the spirit went forth, and as he was generated in the heart, so he went forth now at the mouth; but how welcome a guest he was before God, and in God, also before the holy angels of the other kingdoms, I leave to thee to consider of. 164. He should now have united with the Son of God, as one heart and one God: Alas for ever! Who can write or express this sufficiently?
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.
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