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title : The Theosophical Enlightenment SUNY Series in Western
Esoteric Traditions
author : Godwin, Joscelyn.
publisher : State University of New York Press
isbn10 | asin : 0791421511
print isbn13 : 9780791421512
ebook isbn13 : 9780585045221
language : English
subject Theosophy--Great Britain--History, Occultism--Great Britain--
History.
publication date : 1994
lcc : BP545.G63 1994eb
ddc : 299/.93/094109034
subject : Theosophy--Great Britain--History, Occultism--Great Britain--
History.
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The Theosophical Enlightenment
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SUNY Series in Western Esoteric Traditions
Edited by David Appelbaum
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The Theosophical Enlightenment
Joscelyn Godwin
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
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ILLUSTRATION CREDITS: 1.1: National Gallery of Wales, Cardiff (private collection). By permission of the
owner. 1.2: By permission of Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museums, Burnley Borough Council. 2.3, 3.3, 3.4, 7.2:
By permission of the National Portrait Gallery. 7.1: By permission of the Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze (Collezione
degli Autoritratti). 8.2: By permission of the Board of Trustees of the Chevening Estate. 11.1: By permission of the
Grand Lodge Library and Museum, Freemasons' Hall, London. 11.2: From F. King, Modern Ritual Magic (Bridport:
Prism, 1989). By permission of Prism Press. 13.2: From the Hertfordshire Record Office. By permission of Lord
Cobbold. 15.1: Miscellaneous Papers (Rammohun Roy), Rare Books & Manuscripts Division, The New York Public
Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. By permission. 16.3: From H.B. of L. Textes et documents secrets de
la Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor (Milan: Arché, 1989). By permission of Laszlo Toth. 17.1: Private collection. By
permission of R. A. Gilbert. 17.2: Photograph by Paul Brunton. By permission of Kenneth Thurston Hurst.
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1994 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information, address State University of New York Press,
State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y., 12246
Production by Cathleen Collins
Marketing by Nancy Farrell
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Godwin, Joscelyn.
The theosophical enlightenment / by Joscelyn Godwin.
p. cm. (SUNY Series in Western esoteric traditions)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-2151-1. ISBN 0-7914-2152-X (pbk.)
1. TheosophyGreat BritainHistory. 2. OccultismGreat
BritainHistory. I. Title. II. Series
BP545.G63 1994
299'.93'094109034dc20 94-1572
CIP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To Leslie Price and James A. Santucci
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Page vii
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
ONE The Worship of the Generative Powers 1
TWO The Cult of the Sun 27
THREE The Blasphemers 49
FOUR The Shoemaker and the Squire 67
FIVE Magicians and Revolutionaries 93
SIX Neophytes and Initiates 115
SEVEN Artists and Astrologers 131
EIGHT Animal Magnetism 151
NINE Visions in the Crystal 169
TEN Hydesville and After 187
ELEVEN From the Orphic Circle to the Golden Dawn 205
TWELVE The Way to Christ 227
THIRTEEN Rosicrucian Pretenders 247
FOURTEEN Enter Madame Blavatsky 277
FIFTEEN Wisdom from the East 307
SIXTEEN The Hermetic Reaction 333
SEVENTEEN The Parting of East and West 363
Appendix A Letter from Rammohun Roy to Robert Dale Owen 381
Appendix B Letter from Hargrave Jennings to Bulwer-Lytton 383
Notes 387
Bibliography of Works Cited 419
Index 435
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Page ix
Illustrations
1.1. Richard Payne Knight 2
1.2. Charles Townley, with his secretary Pierre-François Hugues d'Hancarville, Charles Greville, and Thomas 7
Astle
1.3. Henry O'Brien 20
2.1. Charles-François Dupuis 28
2.2 . Constantin François de Volney 36
2.3. Sir William Drummond 40
3.1. Title page of Paine's Age of Reason, Part Three 50
3.2. Title page of The Third Trial of William Hone 54
3.3. Richard Carlie 56
3.4. The Reverend Robert Taylor 60
4.1. Frontispiece to The Mythological Astronomy of Samson Arnold Mackey 69
4.2. Godfrey Higgins 77
5.1. Emanuel Swedenborg 96
5.2. Alessandro Cagliostro 98
5.3. Ebenezer Sibly 108
6.1. Francis Barrett 117
6.2. Edward Bulwer-Lytton 124
7.1. Richard Cosway 134
7.2. John Varley 137
8.1. Dr. John Elliotson 158
8.2. Philip Henry, Fourth Earl of Stanhope 163
9.1. Marguerite, Countess of Blessington 176
9.2. "Zadkiel" (Lieut. Richard J. Morrison) 179
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Description:This is an intellectual history of occult and esoteric currents in the English-speaking world from the early Romantic period to the early twentieth century. The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875 by Helena P. Blavatsky, holds a crucial position as the place where all these currents temporarily un
