The Forty Questions of the Soul
Bohme's writings were not divided in the MSS. into short paragraphs, as they now appear in the printed works; nor is Werdenhagen's Latin translation of the Forty Questions, 1632, octavo, 10 "9 cm. x 5 "4 cm., so divided. The first editor to split up the text and number the paragraphs was "Mede-Borger van de vermingde Werelt" — Fellow-citizen of the three mixed worlds — that is, Abraham Willemsson van Beyerland, who so treated the text in his translations of the original German MSS. into Dutch. As a rule, his paragraphs are shorter than in the later German editions; consequently the reference numbers to the two editions are not always the same. The English edition agrees with the Dutch. In the first German edition of the Forty Questions, 1648, a duodecimo, 12 "6 cm. x 7" 2 cm. (printed without the Appendix), the paragraphs are of considerable length; but Arabic numerals set in the margins indicate divisions corresponding to those of Beyerland.
In the German editions there are no side-notes. In the Dutch editions the translator added innumerable ones; and it is interesting to observe that, in Sparrow's translation, many of these have been reproduced. Two significant instances may be cited as belonging to the latter category: "Author's Preface," par. 9, note, and Ques. 30, par. 64, n. 2. Sparrow also added many side-notes of his own; e.g., Ques. 5, the first four notes; and Clavis, par. 218.
The following points may be of interest as further illustrating the relations between the Dutch, the English, and the German editions.
The symbolic figures outside the circle of the "Figure of the Philosophic Globe" are in the Dutch, but not in any German, edition.
The special symbols attached to pars. 26, 27, and 159-161 of Ques. 1 are neither in the Dutch nor in the German editions.
Ques. 1. In the edition of 1647 (but not in the 1665 edition) the numbers 258 and
352 are dropped out, the succession being 257, 259, 260, etc., and 351, 353, 354, etc., the English edition thus maintaining strict uniformity with the Dutch.* In all German editions (with the exception of 1648, as above mentioned) the total number of paragraphs of Ques. 1 is 281.
* As Sparrow gave no indication in the text that this hiatus was intentional, the editor of the 1764 reprint gave every paragraph from 259 to 351 inclusive a lower number by one, and a lower number by two to the last three paragraphs. Thus, in that most carefully edited reprint, references given to Ques. 1 later than par. 257 will not agree with those in any other edition of the Forty Questions.
At Ques. 1, par. 282, Mrs Hehner has added a footnote, pointing out that Sparrow has substituted "water" for "fire" in the last clause of that paragraph. In making this alteration Sparrow does not stand alone: Beyerland had done the same before him, the Dutch reading "om dat de Sucht des Waters." As the Dutch translations were done with the most scrupulous care — the original German being given in the margin, whenever it was not literally rendered in the text — and, as no side-note appears, it would almost seem that the MS. upon which Beyerland's translation was based, read "Wasser" at this place. At the same time, the earliest German edition, 1648, has "des Fewers Sucht"; so that it is quite possible that Beyerland himself made this alteration, and omitted to notify the same in the margin, and that Sparrow accepted Beyerland's rendering. A similar instance occurs in Ques. 4, par. 1, where Sparrow prints "for its habitation," when the literal rendering would be "for its joy." Here the Dutch is "beyde, tot eene Spijse, en tot eene Wooningh" = both as food and as a habitation. But in Ques. 7, par. 6, the substitution by Sparrow of "water" for "fire" in his 1665 edition has no parallel in the Dutch. See footnote, Ques. 7, par. 6.
The Dutch and the English arrangements of the clauses in pars. 3 and 4, Ques. 40, are alike: the German is different.
Bohme's writings were not divided in the MSS. into short paragraphs, as they now appear in the printed works; nor is Werdenhagen's Latin translation of the Forty Questions, 1632, octavo, 10 "9 cm. x 5 "4 cm., so divided. The first editor to split up the text and number the paragraphs was "Mede-Borger van de vermingde Werelt" — Fellow-citizen of the three mixed worlds — that is, Abraham Willemsson van Beyerland, who so treated the text in his translations of the original German MSS. into Dutch. As a rule, his paragraphs are shorter than in the later German editions; consequently the reference numbers to the two editions are not always the same. The English edition agrees with the Dutch. In the first German edition of the Forty Questions, 1648, a duodecimo, 12 "6 cm. x 7" 2 cm. (printed without the Appendix), the paragraphs are of considerable length; but Arabic numerals set in the margins indicate divisions corresponding to those of Beyerland.
In the German editions there are no side-notes. In the Dutch editions the translator added innumerable ones; and it is interesting to observe that, in Sparrow's translation, many of these have been reproduced. Two significant instances may be cited as belonging to the latter category: "Author's Preface," par. 9, note, and Ques. 30, par. 64, n. 2. Sparrow also added many side-notes of his own; e.g., Ques. 5, the first four notes; and Clavis, par. 218.
The following points may be of interest as further illustrating the relations between the Dutch, the English, and the German editions.
The symbolic figures outside the circle of the "Figure of the Philosophic Globe" are in the Dutch, but not in any German, edition.
The special symbols attached to pars. 26, 27, and 159-161 of Ques. 1 are neither in the Dutch nor in the German editions.
Ques. 1. In the edition of 1647 (but not in the 1665 edition) the numbers 258 and
352 are dropped out, the succession being 257, 259, 260, etc., and 351, 353, 354, etc., the English edition thus maintaining strict uniformity with the Dutch.* In all German editions (with the exception of 1648, as above mentioned) the total number of paragraphs of Ques. 1 is 281.
* As Sparrow gave no indication in the text that this hiatus was intentional, the editor of the 1764 reprint gave every paragraph from 259 to 351 inclusive a lower number by one, and a lower number by two to the last three paragraphs. Thus, in that most carefully edited reprint, references given to Ques. 1 later than par. 257 will not agree with those in any other edition of the Forty Questions.
At Ques. 1, par. 282, Mrs Hehner has added a footnote, pointing out that Sparrow has substituted "water" for "fire" in the last clause of that paragraph. In making this alteration Sparrow does not stand alone: Beyerland had done the same before him, the Dutch reading "om dat de Sucht des Waters." As the Dutch translations were done with the most scrupulous care — the original German being given in the margin, whenever it was not literally rendered in the text — and, as no side-note appears, it would almost seem that the MS. upon which Beyerland's translation was based, read "Wasser" at this place. At the same time, the earliest German edition, 1648, has "des Fewers Sucht"; so that it is quite possible that Beyerland himself made this alteration, and omitted to notify the same in the margin, and that Sparrow accepted Beyerland's rendering. A similar instance occurs in Ques. 4, par. 1, where Sparrow prints "for its habitation," when the literal rendering would be "for its joy." Here the Dutch is "beyde, tot eene Spijse, en tot eene Wooningh" = both as food and as a habitation. But in Ques. 7, par. 6, the substitution by Sparrow of "water" for "fire" in his 1665 edition has no parallel in the Dutch. See footnote, Ques. 7, par. 6.
The Dutch and the English arrangements of the clauses in pars. 3 and 4, Ques. 40, are alike: the German is different.
No commentary for this page.
There is commentary on page 1.