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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.
1and they came to buy also from foreign islands, even from the ends of the world. Now when the merchant saw that his wares were in request and esteem, he plotted how he might gather a great treasure to his master, and so sent factors abroad everywhere, to offer his wares to sell, praising them highly: But he sophisticated the wares, and sold other fruit instead of the good, which were not grown on the good tree; this he did to increase his master's treasure. 32. But the Heathen, and all the islands and nations which dwelt on the earth, were all grown on the wild tree, which was good and bad, and therefore were half blind, and did not discern the good tree (which, however, spread its branches from the east to the west) else they would not have bought of the false wares. 33. But because they knew not the precious tree, which spread its branches over them all, all of them ran after and to the factors, and bought of them mixed false wares instead of good, and supposed they served for health: But because all of them longed after the good tree, (which, however, moved over them all), many of them were healed, because of their great desire they had to the tree. For the fragrancy of the tree, which moved over them, healed them of their wrath or fierceness and wild nature, and not the false wares of the factors: this continued a long time. 34. Now when the prince in the darkness, who is the source of wrath or fierceness, malice and perdition, perceived that men were healed of their poison and wild nature by the fragrancy of the precious tree, he was enraged, and planted a wild tree towards the north, which sprang up and grew in the fierceness or wrath of nature, and made proclamation, saying: This is the Tree of Life; he that eateth of it, shall be healed and live
2eternally. 35. For in that place, where the wild tree grew, was a wild place, and the people there had the true light of God from the beginning, even unto that time, and to this day, though unknown: and the tree grew on the mount Hagar in the house of Ismael the mocker. But when proclamation was made of the tree, Behold, this is the Tree of Life! then the wild people, who were not born of God, but of the wild nature, flocked unto the tree, and loved the wild tree, and did eat of its fruit. 36. And the tree grew to a mighty bigness, by the sap of wrath or fierceness in nature, and spread abroad its branches, from the north to the east and west: But the tree had its source and root from the wild nature, which was good and bad; and as the tree was, so were its fruits. But though the men of this place were grown out of the wild nature, yet the tree grew over them all, and grew so huge, that it reached with its branches even unto the esteemed precious land or country under the holy tree. 37. But the cause that the wild tree grew to such a huge bigness, was because the nations under the good tree all ran after the factors who sold the false wares, and did eat of the false fruits, which were good and bad, and supposed they were healed thereby, and meddled not with the holy, good, effectual tree. 38. In the meanwhile they grew more blind, weak and impotent, and were disabled to suppress the growing of the wild tree towards the north: For they were too weak and impotent, and they saw well enough that the tree was wild, and bad; but they wanted strength, and could not suppress the growing of the tree.
339. Yet if they had not run after the false wares those factors sold, and had not eaten of the false fruits, but rather eaten of the precious tree, then they might have gotten strength to oppose the wild tree. But because they ran a whoring after the wild nature in human conceits and opinions, in the lusts of their hearts, in a hypocritical way, therefore the wild nature did predominate over them, and the wild tree grew high and large over them, and spoiled them with its wild rankness. 40. For the prince of wrath or fierceness in nature gave his power to the tree, to spoil men that did eat of the wild fruits of the factors: Because they forsook the Tree of Life, and sought after their own cleverness, as mother Eve did in Paradise, therefore their own innate quality predominated in them, and brought them into strong delusions, as St Paul saith. [2 Thess. ii. 11] And the prince of wrath or fierceness raised wars and tempests from the wild tree towards the north, against the people and nations that were not born of the wild tree; and the tempest that came from the wild tree overthrew them in their weakness and faintness. 41. And the merchant under the good tree dissembled with the nations of the south and west, and towards the north, and commended his wares hugely, and cunningly deceived the simple ones; and those that were witty, he made them his factors, that they also might have their livelihood or livings out of it, and he brought it so far that nobody saw or knew the holy tree any more, and so he got all the land to himself, and then made proclamation, 1 am the stock of the good tree, and stand on the root of the good tree, and am engrafted into the Tree of Life, buy my wares which I sell: and then you shall be healed
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.
1and they came to buy also from foreign islands, even from the ends of the world. Now when the merchant saw that his wares were in request and esteem, he plotted how he might gather a great treasure to his master, and so sent factors abroad everywhere, to offer his wares to sell, praising them highly: But he sophisticated the wares, and sold other fruit instead of the good, which were not grown on the good tree; this he did to increase his master's treasure. 32. But the Heathen, and all the islands and nations which dwelt on the earth, were all grown on the wild tree, which was good and bad, and therefore were half blind, and did not discern the good tree (which, however, spread its branches from the east to the west) else they would not have bought of the false wares. 33. But because they knew not the precious tree, which spread its branches over them all, all of them ran after and to the factors, and bought of them mixed false wares instead of good, and supposed they served for health: But because all of them longed after the good tree, (which, however, moved over them all), many of them were healed, because of their great desire they had to the tree. For the fragrancy of the tree, which moved over them, healed them of their wrath or fierceness and wild nature, and not the false wares of the factors: this continued a long time. 34. Now when the prince in the darkness, who is the source of wrath or fierceness, malice and perdition, perceived that men were healed of their poison and wild nature by the fragrancy of the precious tree, he was enraged, and planted a wild tree towards the north, which sprang up and grew in the fierceness or wrath of nature, and made proclamation, saying: This is the Tree of Life; he that eateth of it, shall be healed and live
2eternally. 35. For in that place, where the wild tree grew, was a wild place, and the people there had the true light of God from the beginning, even unto that time, and to this day, though unknown: and the tree grew on the mount Hagar in the house of Ismael the mocker. But when proclamation was made of the tree, Behold, this is the Tree of Life! then the wild people, who were not born of God, but of the wild nature, flocked unto the tree, and loved the wild tree, and did eat of its fruit. 36. And the tree grew to a mighty bigness, by the sap of wrath or fierceness in nature, and spread abroad its branches, from the north to the east and west: But the tree had its source and root from the wild nature, which was good and bad; and as the tree was, so were its fruits. But though the men of this place were grown out of the wild nature, yet the tree grew over them all, and grew so huge, that it reached with its branches even unto the esteemed precious land or country under the holy tree. 37. But the cause that the wild tree grew to such a huge bigness, was because the nations under the good tree all ran after the factors who sold the false wares, and did eat of the false fruits, which were good and bad, and supposed they were healed thereby, and meddled not with the holy, good, effectual tree. 38. In the meanwhile they grew more blind, weak and impotent, and were disabled to suppress the growing of the wild tree towards the north: For they were too weak and impotent, and they saw well enough that the tree was wild, and bad; but they wanted strength, and could not suppress the growing of the tree.
339. Yet if they had not run after the false wares those factors sold, and had not eaten of the false fruits, but rather eaten of the precious tree, then they might have gotten strength to oppose the wild tree. But because they ran a whoring after the wild nature in human conceits and opinions, in the lusts of their hearts, in a hypocritical way, therefore the wild nature did predominate over them, and the wild tree grew high and large over them, and spoiled them with its wild rankness. 40. For the prince of wrath or fierceness in nature gave his power to the tree, to spoil men that did eat of the wild fruits of the factors: Because they forsook the Tree of Life, and sought after their own cleverness, as mother Eve did in Paradise, therefore their own innate quality predominated in them, and brought them into strong delusions, as St Paul saith. [2 Thess. ii. 11] And the prince of wrath or fierceness raised wars and tempests from the wild tree towards the north, against the people and nations that were not born of the wild tree; and the tempest that came from the wild tree overthrew them in their weakness and faintness. 41. And the merchant under the good tree dissembled with the nations of the south and west, and towards the north, and commended his wares hugely, and cunningly deceived the simple ones; and those that were witty, he made them his factors, that they also might have their livelihood or livings out of it, and he brought it so far that nobody saw or knew the holy tree any more, and so he got all the land to himself, and then made proclamation, 1 am the stock of the good tree, and stand on the root of the good tree, and am engrafted into the Tree of Life, buy my wares which I sell: and then you shall be healed
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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