The Secret Doctrine in Portuguese

Editora Pensamento in Sao Paulo, one of Brazil’s largest publishers, has released a Portuguese translation of Michael Gomes’ 2009 abridged edition of Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine. The size of this version is similar to the English edition, and though the publisher tells us that “texto de acordo com as novas regras ortográficas de língua portuguesa,” the translation seems to be a compromise between what was written in 1888 and what is considered acceptable now. Parts of Gomes’ careful orthographic work seem to have been jettisoned for the more familiar but incorrect spellings like “paranishpanna” and “Dhyan-Chohan.” Reading this translation sometimes it seems half of one and none of the other. But the edition is useful to those who will never go through the book’s two volumes. The Portuguese book review site, Literatura de Cabeça, rates it, saying: “Sua introdução histórica e literária lança nova luz sobre algumas das fontes de A Doutrina Secreta e sobre a trajetória de sua brilhante e enigmática autora, uma das personagens mais intrigantes da história recente.”