The celebrated theosophist work, by Helena Blavatsky, in its very rare first edition of two volumes. A key text in the development of Golden Dawn, Theosophical Society and later \'New Age\' philosophy. Many later (and extended) editions followed, but this is the original, published as directed by Madame Blavatsky.The first volume is named Cosmogenesis, the second Anthropogenesis. It was an influential example of the revival of interest in esoteric and occult ideas in the modern age, in particular because of its claim to reconcile ancient eastern wisdom with modern science. In Volume One, Blavatsky details her interpretation of the origin and evolution of the universe itself, in terms derived from the Hindu concept of cyclical development. The world and everything in it is said to alternate between periods of activity (manvantaras) and periods of passivity (pralayas). Each manvantara lasts many millions of years and consists of a number of Yugas, in accordance with Hindu cosmology. Blavatsky attempted to demonstrate that the discoveries of \"materialist\" science had been anticipated in the writings of ancient sages and that materialism would be proven wrong. The second half of the book describes the origins of humanity through an account of \"Root Races\" said to date back millions of years. The first root race was, according to her, \"ethereal\"; the second root had more physical bodies and lived in Hyperborea. The third root race, the first to be truly human, is said to have existed on the lost continent of Lemuria and the fourth root race is said to have developed in Atlantis. \"The real line of evolution differs from the Darwinian, and the two systems are irreconcilable,\" according to Blavatsky, \"except when the latter is divorced from the dogma of \'Natural Selection\'.\" She explained that, \"by \'Man\' the divine Monad is meant, and not the thinking Entity, much less his physical body.\" \"Occultism rejects the idea that Nature developed man from the ape, or even from an ancestor common to both, but traces, on the contrary, some of the most anthropoid species to the Third Race man.\" In other words, \"the \'ancestor\' of the present anthropoid animal, the ape, is the direct production of the yet mindless Man, who desecrated his human dignity by putting himself physically on the level of an animal\" (excerpted from Wikipedia article).Only fair condition. No highlighting or other notes. The vast majority of the pages are clear of foxing or other stains; however ffeps are stained and with a newspaper clipping pasted inside the front cover; the title page of volume 1 has tears on either side and has become detached from text block, as has the equivalent page from volume 2 - this one has two names inscribed in ink; pages 529/530 in volume 2 have been repaired with tape (all the text is still visible). Covers are intact with strong hinges at the back but somewhat weak hinges at front. Both volumes have been rebound at some point, much to the detriment of the condition, and the cloth covering on volume 1 has become torn also; this new binding has covered all the lettering on the spine - all these faults may be viewed on the images presented. Hence the price is a relatively low one for this extremely rare and famous edition.