By Henry Steel Olcott (1832 – 1907).

537 Pages | First printed 1910, second edition 1931, third printing 1975 | Hardcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 0835674843.

It is six years since the Third Series of Old Diary Leaves appeared in book form. and it is nine years since the contents of the present Volume were published in the pages of The Theosophist. The author, Henry Steel Olcott, passed over in 1907, and as all who knew him well are aware, the publication of the whole of this ’true history of the Theosophical Society’ was a matter that lay near his heart. There still remains sufficient material to fill one, if not two, additional Volumes, and it is hoped this will appear in due course, for the longer the lapse of time that separates the present membership of the Theosophical Society from its early history, the more important it is that the facts should be placed on record.

For the earlier part of the story, relating to America and India, there was no living authority so well able to bare witness to the facts as the late Co-Founder of the Society. In this present Volume, however, we traverse a period when, owing to to the world-wide spread of the organisation, the touch of the President with the whole of the Society was not so close, and maybe there are those well qualified to write of the development of different Sections, who could effictively supplement the present history so far as their own country is concerned. But such sectional or national histories remain to be written, and in the meantime the record of Colonel Olcott is here to read – and inwardly digest.

From Chapter XXIII – ‘From Stockholm to Kyoto (p. 407):

” The ladies of our local Branch had organised a charming scheme of moral and religious instruction for children, to which they gave the name ‘The Children’s Hour’. A special exhibition of it was given for my information, and it delighted me very much. The motive was to impress upon the youthful minds the idea of the fundamental resemblance between the world religions and the advisability of learning to be kind and tolerant to all men, of whatsoever race or creed. A senior girl represented Theosophia, and other the Founders of religions – Krishna, Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha, Christ, Mohammed, etc. Each of these held a staff carrying a symbolical pennant. A simple, yet excellent dialogue was framed, in which Theosophia put questions to each of the flag-holders, to give him or her the chance to quote from the Scriptures of the Founder of that religion; verses, which embodied the Theosophical spirit. The children wore pretty dresses, there was some little marching and other exercises, and all seemed to enjoy the occasion. “

By Henry Steel Olcott (1832 – 1907).

460 Pages | First printed 1904, second edition 1929, reprinted in 1972 | Hardcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 0835674800.

The first Volume of these historical sketches covered the period from the meeting of Madame Blavatsky (1831 – 1891) and myself, Henry Steel Olcott, in 1874, to our departure from New York for Bombay in December, 1878. The second Volume tells of our adventures in India and Ceylon, the formation of Branches, the giving of lectures, healings of the sick by hundreds, occult phenomena produced by H.P.B. etc., and brings us down to the Autumn of 1883: at this time we take up the thread of narrative, and go forward to the Month of May, 1887.

I think the reader will agree with me that the subject-matter of this third Volume possesses absorbing interest, quite equal to that in its two preceding Volumes, if not greater. Accounts are given among other things of my meetings with several of the ‘Masters’ in the course of my travels, and of the results of the same, of our removal of the Society’s Headquarters from Bombay to Madras, of H.P.B.’s last departure from her beloved Indian home into exile of an European residence. The troublous time of the Coulomb conspiracy are dealt with in this Volume and the true story of the S.P.R.

From Chapter XXVII – ‘The Opening Ceremony’ (p. 403):

” We are together, Ladies and Gentlemen, upon an occasion that is likely to possess an historical interest in the world of modern culture. The foundation of a Library of such a character as this is among the rarest of events, indeed, it be not unique in modern times. We need not enumerate the great libraries of Western cities, with their millions of Volumes, for they are, rather, huge storehouses of books; not the collections of Oriental literature at the India Office, and in the Royal and National Museums of Europe; nor even the famed Saraswati Mahal, of Tanjore: all these have a character different from our Adyar Library, and do not compete with it. Ours has a definite purpose behind it, a specific line of utility marked out for it from the beginning. It is to be an adjunct to the work of the Theosophical Society; a means of helping to effect the object for which the Society was founded, and which is clearly stated in its constitution. Of the three declared aims of our Society, the first is to form a  nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, or color. The second is to promote the study of Aryan and other Eastern literatures, religions and sciences. “

By Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891), edited by Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa (1875–1953)

248 Pages | First edition 1950, reprint 1986 | Hardcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170590361.

There exist in the Archives of the Theosophical Society at Adyar certain manuscripts of H.P.B. Among them all, the most interesting historically is her Diary for 1878, which is published in this work. Furthermore, letters written by H.P. Blavatsky  from 1875 onwards and some extracts from Scrapbook No. 1. are included.

From page 105:

” That I was called Heliona (not Helen as people call me) – a Greek name derived from that of the Sun-Helios- because (1st) there was an eclipse of the luminary on that day, who knew prophetically, one must infer, that it would be eclipsed for long years by the newly born babe, and also (2nd) because of the possibility it gave the clergy and missionaries of the 19th century to spell it with a double ‘ll’ (thus – Helliona) and assure the more readily their congregations that I was an imp of Hell . . . “