The Buddhist Catechism
Madras: The "Theosophist" Office, Adyar, 1897. Thirty-Third Edition. Re-arranged and largely extended. 18mo, [1], [1]. 2, [1], 120, [1] pages, publisher's original yellow cloth-covered boards. Henry S. Olcott’s The Buddhist Catechism is one of the most influential nineteenth-century presentations of Buddhism in English, written in a clear question-and-answer format to explain the life of the Buddha, Buddhist doctrine, karma, rebirth, ethics, the Sangha, and the central teachings of the Dharma. First published in 1881, the work became closely associated with the Buddhist revival in Ceylon/Sri Lanka and with the Theosophical Society’s efforts to promote the study of Asian religions among English-speaking readers. This Thirty-Third Edition, published in 1897, is especially notable because it reflects the wide circulation and authority the book had achieved within only sixteen years of its first appearance. The 1897 edition is important because Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala renewed his approval of the text that year, stating that he had reviewed the “Thirty-third English Edition.” By this point the work had become an established instructional text, making this edition an important witness to Olcott’s mature presentation of Buddhism and to the book’s role in late nineteenth-century Buddhist revivalism, Theosophy, comparative religion, and the transmission of Buddhist thought to the West. Damage to spine, some discoloration to the cloth, hinges cracked, some discoloration to endpapers, else in good + condition. Item #368
Price: $250.00