0. Indices rerum in opera desiderato Sapentia Angelica de Conjugio
The indices to things in the desired work Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage
"Compiled but not published by Swedenborg himself"
"Transcribed and edited by Samuel H. Worcester from the Photolithographs of these two indices."
"Published in 1906 by the American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society, 3 West Twenty-ninth Street, New York."
The words above are how the Rev. Samuel H. Worcester introduces the indexes to the lost work on Marriage in its first publication in 1906.
[2] Preface by the HDPF for the Electronic Text
Recently the Heavenly Doctrine Publishing Foundation (HDPF) sponsored the scanning of the entire collection of the works of Swedenborg at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) in Stockholm. This collection includes most of the first editions and manuscripts of the theological works written by the Lord through Swedenborg. The collection also contains all of the first editions, and most of the manuscripts, of his philosophical and scientific works. Among the manuscripts are many volumes or codices of indexes to the Sacred Scripture and to some of the theological works. They include two short indexes to a lost work on marriage, which is referred to in Apocalypse Revealed 424 as Sapientia Angelica de Conjugio (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage or AWM). From the larger index, which includes a table of contents of this work, it appears to be a first draft of the work later published as The Delights of Wisdom concerning Conjugial Love and the Pleasures of Insanity concerning Scortatory Love.
We find the following short preface written by Samuel H. Worcester in the front of the Latin text of these two indices:
Praefatiuncula Editoris.
Rerum in opera Sapientia Angelica de Conjugio, Indices bini, Auctoris Ipsius manu conscripti, in Academia Regia Scientiarum Holmiensi adhuc conservantur. Opus ipsum non est inventum. Indices illos, autem, typis nunc primum excribendos curavimus. Ad nostram editionem adornandam, exemplari ex autographo Auctoris arte photolithographica confecto, anno 1870 edito, usi sumus. De hoc opere, videantur Documenta ab Doctore R. L. Tafel collecta, pag. 1003, 1004.
Translated into English:
A Short Preface by the Editor
Two indexes of subjects in the work Angelic Wisdom Concerning Marriage, written by the hand of the author himself, are still preserved at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The work itself has not been found. These indexes, however, we have now carefully transcribed in type for the first time. To prepare our edition, we have used the prints, edited in the year 1870, made by the art of photolithograph from the author's manuscripts. Concerning this work, please see the Documents collected by Doctor R. L. Tafel, pages 1003 and 1004.
[3] The manuscript of the smaller but more detailed index is found in Codex 7 in the Swedenborg collection in the RSAS. This same codex also contains the first draft of the index to Apocalypse Revealed, with the index to the work on marriage being written on the pages to the left, while the index to Apocalypse Revealed is written on the right side, occasionally continuing onto the right side when needed.
The manuscript of the larger and more general index is bound as Codex 46. It is the only work in that codex, although on the last page some notes referring to the work Conjugial Love are to be found.
It is not uncommon to have more than one work written in the same codex or volume. The codex numbers of these volumes in the collection have more to do with the size and shape of the volumes and their original position on the shelves than the chronological order in which they were written.
The two indexes appear to be independent of each other, and it is not clear which index was compiled first. Dr. R. L. Tafel in describing these indexes on page 1004 of the Documents Concerning Swedenborg calls the smaller index the first, because it only covers the first 83 numbers in the work on marriage. But others, such as Samuel H. Worcester and John Whitehead, see the larger and more general index to be the first, in the nature of an outline of the entire work. It is conjectured by them that, as he began writing out the actual text of the work, Swedenborg was also making a detailed index of the work itself. But he did not complete that work, and this is why the index covers only the first 83 numbers.
As the HDPF is desirous of making the scans of the Swedenborg collection available in the most accessible and usable form, we have undertaken to link these scans to the Latin electronic texts of the theological works. This is being done in such a way that the scans of the original manuscripts can be displayed together with the corresponding pages of the Latin e-texts. As the printed text of these two indexes to AWM in Latin had not yet been scanned and converted to electronic text, the HDPF took up this project. We therefore scanned the Latin text of these indexes as found in Opera Minora, published by the American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society in 1906, and then converted it into electronic text. After some editing of the text to remove the scanning errors, the text was reworked for integration into the Kempton Project program. The text was also put into a format that could also be used by other search programs such as NewSearch and New Christian Bible Study.
[4] In general, the text and formatting of this electronic version are similar to that of Opera Minora. In editing this work Samuel Worcester added certain things to the format and text, and we have retained these additions for the use they serve to those reading and studying these indexes. Worcester's additions include the following:
Parentheses are added around references to Sapientia Angelica de Conjugio,
e.g., Quod omnia jucunda sint ex amore (n. 29, 30).
Parentheses are added around other related subjects being referenced,
e.g., Eruditio. (Vide Sapientia, et Intellectus).
Quotation marks are added around words from Scripture,
e.g., Quod in Verbo Dominus dicatur "Sponsus" et "Maritus,"
Obvious cross references to the work Conjugial Love are added in square brackets,
e.g., De conjugio Domini cum ecclesia (n. 1301-1344 [De Am. Conj., 115-131]).
In the longer, more general index a reference to the other shorter index is inserted in square brackets if the subject is also found there.
e.g., Effectus. [(INDEX ALTER etiam videatur.)] (Vide Finis.)
The critical notes found as endnotes in the 1906 edition are inserted in the text in braces:
e.g., Qualis est influxus {* pro "in influxus"} mentis in corpus (illustr., n. 58, 60-62).
This note indicates that in the manuscript, the words "in influxus" are found, but the word "in" is left out of the Latin text in the published book.
In the above example we see the abbreviation illustr. which stands for illustratum (illustrated). We often find in the Latin text the abbreviation ostens. for ostensum (shown). In the fair copy of the index to the Apocalypsis Revelata we find the following explanation of these abbreviations, which in that index are further shortened to Ill. and Ost. We read: In hoc Indice Ill. seu illustratum significat plenius explicatum, et Ost. significat ex Verbo ostensum. Translated, this says, "In this Index, Ill. or illustrated signifies more fully explained, and Ost. signifies shown from the Word." We have left these abbreviations, together with Memorab. for Memorabilium, as they are found in the manuscript.
[5] Besides the extra formatting in the 1906 Latin edition of these indexes we found it necessary to add still more formatting, subsections and symbols. As can be seen from the following examples, this was done for the sake of comparison between the Latin e-text and the scans of the manuscripts, as well as comparison between the two indexes. This formatting will make the study and comparison much easier for the average student of the Heavenly Doctrine who knows some Latin. The following was added to the 1906 version in the electronic version:
The & sign followed by a number is added in front of the key words for the sake of indexing and searching the text of this index,
e.g., 79. Officia. De propriis officiis virorum et faeminarum, …
The # sign followed by a number has been added in front of subjects being cross referenced by the word vide. This allows the program to display that subject when it is double clicked, and this also makes it easier for those using a printed text to locate that word in the book.
e.g., 66. Jucundum. (Vide #34 Delitiae.)
Subsection markers, such as [2] or [3+], were added to help in finding words in subjects with many entries, such as Dominus and Verbum. They were also used to divide the text at, or close to, where the entries for a specific subject continues from one page to the another. This allows for scrolling the Latin text alongside the manuscript pages.
e.g. [%3+] Quod CAUSA ACCIDENTALIS FRIGORIS inter conjuges sit prima, ...
The % sign was added to indicate that the subsection only contains a portion of the entries for a specific subject in the index. The + sign is added after the number when there is a natural division in the manuscript, such as a change in page or an indentation in the text.
The symbol [><] is added when the text of a subject or entry passes from one page to another in the manuscript while still in the same entry. This is to help the reader when comparing the printed or electronic text with the manuscript,
e.g., Quod amor sexus, apud quos [><] citius et plus se fortificat,
Here this entry is continued from one page to the next, …apud quos being on the one page and citius et plus… on the other.
It is hoped that the publication of this electronic version of the original Latin of the two indexes of AWM will increase the use of this invaluable work in the study of the Heavenly Doctrine, as studies have become more and more dependent on computer applications. In these indexes there are teachings not to be found elsewhere in the Heavenly Doctrine. For example, we have the following entry under the subject Influxus:
Quod mens seu spiritus hominis agat in instanti in corpus; et quod simul agat, et non successive, quia spirituale non est in loco; et quod recipiatur a materiali corporis non in instanti, sed in momento (n. 60, 61).
That the mind or spirit of man acts in an instant into the body; and that it acts simultaneously, and not successively, because the spiritual is not in a place; and that it is received by the material body not in an instant, but in a moment (n. 60, 61).
Would that we had the full text of these teachings of the work Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage! Then we could better understand this teaching about influx, which reveals to us that metric time begins when the spiritual inflows into the natural. Still, the essence of this teaching has been preserved in this index. Someday we hope the work itself will be found.
Andrew J. Heilman, secretary of the HDPF
Kempton, PA - November 2021
