1883 Calcutta: The Original Pamphlet of Eliphas Levi's Paradoxes of the Highest Science

The “Unpublished Writings of Eliphas Lévi” were first published in various parts in the early issues of The Theosophist, a monthly journal issued by the international Theosophical Society and based in Adyar, India, beginning in 1879. The present edition was later published independently by the Theosophical Society in Calcutta as a booklet under the title The Paradoxes of the Highest Science, issued as part of the Theosophical Miscellanies series.

The original pamphlet appears to have gone out of print shortly after publication. Today, there are only a small number of institutional listings worldwide, which helps explain why this rare pamphlet is seldom encountered on the market. This publication represents Lévi’s first work to be issued separately in English, translated directly from the original French manuscript by a “Student of Occultism,” as stated on the title page. The work includes footnotes throughout the text attributed to an “Eminent Occultist,” abbreviated “E.O.”  whom bibliographer R. A. Gilbert has suggested may have been Madame Blavatsky herself.

I have included photographs of both the rare 1883 original pamphlet and the more commonly encountered 1922 second edition published by the Theosophical Society for the purpose of comparison and digital preservation. The 1922 edition has been frequently reprinted. The rare Calcutta pamphlet was issued in contemporary cloth-covered boards, a factor that has likely contributed to its preservation. I acquired this pamphlet a few months ago from an associate bookseller based in Gauting, Germany, and have retained all original receipts.

Bibliographic Information

Title: The Paradoxes of the Highest Science, translated from the French manuscript by a Student of Occultism (Theosophical Miscellanies, No. 2)

Author: Éliphas Lévi (Alphonse Louis Constant)

Publication: Calcutta: The Calcutta Central Press Company, 1883

8vo. Collation: (ii), 115 pp.