The Forty Questions of the Soul
Curiously enough, so far as the Forty Questions and the Clavis go, the 1682 edition appears to be — as regards difficulties of spelling, and a few other details — more reliable on the whole than the edition of 1730, although the latter is now generally looked upon as the standard edition. This observation applies, of course, to the work, principally when viewed from the standpoint of a translator.
In some instances, and on specially important points, the latest German edition, edited by Schiebler, has also been consulted. In further elucidation of certain expressions, St Martin's interesting translation of the Forty Questions into French has been referred to. This great mystic applied himself devotedly to a most minutely literal rendering of Bbhme's terminology; but as the French language does not lend itself well to this treatment, the result, as a whole, can scarcely be said to be happy. Nevertheless, since St Martin penetrated deeply into the spirit of Bbhme, his painstaking work is often illuminating, and many isolated expressions and special renderings are particularly apt and suggestive.
In the making of these notes a few simple rules have been followed throughout as consistently as has been found possible. The abbreviation "lit." indicates a more literal, though generally a clumsier translation; the word "or" an alternative, though not necessarily a better, translation. When neither is used, there has been an attempt, made with all due respect, to improve, or make clearer, the original translation. In most of these cases the German text has been quoted for the benefit of the student, who can thus use personal judgment. When a single German word is quoted it is placed immediately after the corresponding English word.
Further, it may be added that these emendations deal exclusively with word values; the endeavour has been to give the closest possible rendering of the author's own terms. A brief explanation has occasionally been given, but anything in the nature of free comment has been avoided. In many instances the note given may appear hypercritical and almost superfluous; but to the lover of Jacob Bohme no minute detail connected with the elucidation of his writings can be quite uninteresting. After all that has been said and written about the difficulties and obscurities of his phraseology, it is very certain that much help is to be gained from a study of his works in the original. His bold handling of words — in using a rootword for a root-idea, for instance, or coining graphic compounds, or eliminating a syllable to extract a buried meaning — is most suggestive and illuminating. In some cases the translator cannot hope to reproduce such expressions in all their originality and pointedness. For Bohme's genius gives the student the very pith and marrow of his mother-tongue.
For the rest, these emendations are but a very unpretentious attempt towards helping the reader in the study of this volume. It is hoped that one of the results of their publication will be to emphasize the excellence of Sparrow's most admirable translation.
D. S. HEHNER.
X L.
QVESTIONS
Concerning the
S O U L E.
'Propounded
By Dr. Balthasar Walter.
And Anfwered,
By Jacob Behmen.
Curiously enough, so far as the Forty Questions and the Clavis go, the 1682 edition appears to be — as regards difficulties of spelling, and a few other details — more reliable on the whole than the edition of 1730, although the latter is now generally looked upon as the standard edition. This observation applies, of course, to the work, principally when viewed from the standpoint of a translator.
In some instances, and on specially important points, the latest German edition, edited by Schiebler, has also been consulted. In further elucidation of certain expressions, St Martin's interesting translation of the Forty Questions into French has been referred to. This great mystic applied himself devotedly to a most minutely literal rendering of Bbhme's terminology; but as the French language does not lend itself well to this treatment, the result, as a whole, can scarcely be said to be happy. Nevertheless, since St Martin penetrated deeply into the spirit of Bbhme, his painstaking work is often illuminating, and many isolated expressions and special renderings are particularly apt and suggestive.
In the making of these notes a few simple rules have been followed throughout as consistently as has been found possible. The abbreviation "lit." indicates a more literal, though generally a clumsier translation; the word "or" an alternative, though not necessarily a better, translation. When neither is used, there has been an attempt, made with all due respect, to improve, or make clearer, the original translation. In most of these cases the German text has been quoted for the benefit of the student, who can thus use personal judgment. When a single German word is quoted it is placed immediately after the corresponding English word.
Further, it may be added that these emendations deal exclusively with word values; the endeavour has been to give the closest possible rendering of the author's own terms. A brief explanation has occasionally been given, but anything in the nature of free comment has been avoided. In many instances the note given may appear hypercritical and almost superfluous; but to the lover of Jacob Bohme no minute detail connected with the elucidation of his writings can be quite uninteresting. After all that has been said and written about the difficulties and obscurities of his phraseology, it is very certain that much help is to be gained from a study of his works in the original. His bold handling of words — in using a rootword for a root-idea, for instance, or coining graphic compounds, or eliminating a syllable to extract a buried meaning — is most suggestive and illuminating. In some cases the translator cannot hope to reproduce such expressions in all their originality and pointedness. For Bohme's genius gives the student the very pith and marrow of his mother-tongue.
For the rest, these emendations are but a very unpretentious attempt towards helping the reader in the study of this volume. It is hoped that one of the results of their publication will be to emphasize the excellence of Sparrow's most admirable translation.
D. S. HEHNER.
X L.
QVESTIONS
Concerning the
S O U L E.
'Propounded
By Dr. Balthasar Walter.
And Anfwered,
By Jacob Behmen.
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