The spiritual life

(Martin Jones) #1

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Publishers Preface.


Inaddition tothelarge numberofvolumes which


standinthenameofAnnieBesantinthecatalogue

oftheBritishMuseum,thereisagreatquantityoflitera-


ture,forwhichsheisresponsible,thathasappearedin
morefugitiveformasarticles,pamphletsandpublished
lectures,issuednotonlyinGreatBritianbutinAmerica,

IndiaandAustralia. Muchofthis work isof great


interest,butisquiteoutofreachofthegeneralreader

asitisnolongerinprint,andinquiriesfor manysuch


itemshavefrequently tobe answeredinthenegative.
UnderthesecircumstancestheT.P.S.decidedtoissue
aneditionofMrs,Besant'scollectedwritingsunderthe

title EssaysandAddresses. It wasoriginallyin-


tendedtoarrangethe matterin chronological order,
commencing with the writer's first introduction to

Theosophy as reviewer of Mme. Blavatsky's Secret


Doctrine, but several considerations determined the

abandonmentofthisplaninfavouroftheschemenow


adopted, whichis the classification of subject-matter

independentof chronologicalorder. The Publishers


feelsurethatthisarrangementwillespeciallycommend


itselftostudentswhodesiretoknowwhattheAuthor


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