Alfred Acton SWEDENBORG's MEMORABILIA Some Little Known Facts New Church Life March 1953

8/6/2019 Alfred Acton SWEDENBORG's MEMORABILIA Some Little Known Facts New Church Life March 1953

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SOME LITTLE KNOWN FACTSCONCERNING

SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIAOR

"SPIRITUAL DIARY"

By THE RT. REV. ALFRED ACTON

(Reprinted from NEW CHURCH LIFE, March, 1953)


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SOME LITTLE KNOWN FACTSCONCERNING

SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIA OR"SPIRITUAL DIARY"

By THE R T. REV. ALFRED ACTONI. The Manuscripts

According to Swedenborg's Index, the Memorabilia were contained inseven different manuscripts as follows:

1. The Word Explained. The beginning of the Memorabilia consistedin the indented passages in The W ord Explained. By far the greater num ber of them are included in the Index, though not quite aIl. The first ofthese passages to be indexed is no. 459 * including the unindented portion.I t was written in the early part of December 1745, eight months afterSwedenborg had received his commission as Revelator. 1 This, then, is thedate of the commencement of the Memorabilia.

2. The Lost Pages. The Index also includes the spiritual experienceswritten on the end pages of the manuscript volumes, 2, 3 and 4 of TheW ord Explained (Codices 60, 61 and 62). I t would seem that in the firstmanuscript volume (Codex 59-nos. 1-1713), Swedenborg entered his spir itual experiences only in the indented passages. In the subsequent vol umes, however, (Codices 61, 62 and 63 t) he entered them in the blankpages on the end pages of the volumes; but when the experience was ap plicable as illustrating the text that was being expounded he referred to itin sorne such words as "See the end of this Tome at the sign," and then hewould add sorne sign. 2 Sometimes he would also indicate the nature ofthe experience, as in nos. 3032, 3592, 4477, 5336.

Evidence of the existence of these pages is afforded by a fragment cutoff from one of them which was discovered in England many years ago.This fragment is dated February 8, 1747, thus one day prior to the date

* Preceding this, there is one other indented passage, no. 317, but this is not includedin Swedenborg's Index.1 See below, no. III.t The spiritual experiences written on the blank pages of Cod. 63 (Tom. IV) are re

ferred to in Swedenborg's marginal notes; see The Schmidius Marginalia, p. 18.2 There are nine such references in The Ward Explained, namely, nos. 1772, 2227,2531, 3032, 3592, 3994n, 4477, 5336, and 5384.


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2

.-.r .

SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILlA

when Swedenborg abandoned The Word Explained. 3 I t constitutes a partof no. 28 of the Memorabilia, and treats of spirits who are meant by Gad.No. 29, which is not preserved, deals with spirits who are meant byAsher. 4 That this fragment was taken from Tome III (Codex 61) andnot from Tome IV containing the comment on Isaiah and ]eremiah, isevident from an entry made by Swedenborg in his copy of Schmidius'Biblia Sacra reading: "Concerning Gad and Asher, see experience, TomeIlL" 5 Being no. 28 of the Memorabilia, this fragment constitutes partof the lost pages containing nos. 1-148.

Swedenborg continued writing his experiences on the end pages of TomeIV (Codex 63) until he le ft Stockholm for Rolland on ]uly 24, 1747.Either before his departure, or subsequently, he removed from Codices 60,61 and 62 the end pages which contained his spiritual experiences and attached them to the eight leaves or sixteen pages (treated of in the subsection that now follows) which contain nos. 149-204 of the Memorabilia.The first of these pages is numbered 64. Presumably, therefore, the pagesextracted from Codices 60, 61 and 62 amounted ta sixty-three pages.

3. The End Pages of the Index Biblicus. The sixteen pages above referred ta were formerly the end pages of a volume of the Index Biblicus,6the contents of which had been copied into another volume. The firstof these pages contains the last entries of the Index Biblicus, Zea, Zelus,Zona-which are crossed off-the other fifteen pages being blank. Onthese fifteen pages, Swedenborg wrote the paragraphs subsequently numbered 149-205, the first entry being dated 1747, Aug. 19 0.S.7 and thelast Oct. Il.

4. The Index Biblicus Volume (Codex 4). For the continuation of hisMemorabilia, Swedenborg took a manuscript volume (Codex 4) in whichhe was entering his Index Biblicus. The first haH of this bulky volumewas laid out to receive the entries of this Index, and most of the indexinghad already been done. But since the indexing was still going on, for, aswill be shawn later, Swedenborg was entering, that is, was indexing Ezekiel24, and he could not be sure how many pages it would finally occupy,therefore, instead of continuing his Memorabilia in the middle of the vol

3 See W.E. no. 8263.4 See Index, s.v. Gad and Asher.5 Hyde supposed this referred to W.E. no. 7542 seq. (Bibliog. p. 114), but thcsc

numbers are purely doctrinal and make no mention of spiritual expericnces.G Codex 6, being the Index of Isaiah and J eremiah.7 That is, Old Style or the Julian Calendar observed by England and Sweden. Ailthe other countries of Europe, except Russia, had adopted the New Style or Gregorian

Calendar which was eleven days in advance of the Julian.


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3 SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIAume after the last entry of the Index, he started on the last page with no.206, dated October 13, 1747, and worked backwards toward the middle ofthe volume, where he ended with no. 972, dated February 24, 1748.

5. A New Folio Volume. Having filled the blank pages above referredto, Swedenborg now took an unused manuscrip1. Here, for sorne reasonthat is not apparent, he commenced in the middle of the volume, where heentered no. 973, dated February 25, 1748, and proceeded to the end of thevolume where he wrote no. 1789, dated April 1, 1748. He then turned tothe first page of the volume and, commencing with no. 1749, went on tono. 3427, written in the middle of the volume. 8 No. 3422 is dated "1747,24 Oct.," but, as 1 shaIl show in Section III, this is cIearly an error forOct. 2 or, more likely, Oct. 4 [New S1.]. The next five paragraphs (nos.3423-3427), which conclude the volume, are marked "in via" indicatingthat Swedenborg was then on the way from Amsterdam 9 ta London.Nos. 3, 4, and 5 described above are the "three books" referred to bySwedenborg when he says:. "AIl the things that are written in these threebooks are matters of experience" (no. 2894). In 1790, at the direction ofAugustus Nordenskjold, the "three" books were bound together in a singlevolume,l which is now Codex 2.

6. The English Folio Volume (Codex 3). Arrived in London, Swedenborg, for the continuation of his Memorabilia, took a new folio volume ofover five hundred pages (Codex 3). This, with the "3 books" above referred to, makes the four books referred to by Swedenborg in no. 3753where he says: "There are also spirits who, for the ultimate of their order,have my books, which are 4 in number, wherein 1 am writing this, someone book, sorne another."Swedenborg commenced this volume with the paragraph subsequentlynumbered 3428. I t was dated "1748, 2 Oct." rOld Style], and the entriesare continued practically every day until December 1. On the 23d of thepreceding month he had changed his 10dgings,2 and on the 29th or 30th ofthat same month, he commenced the Arcana Coelestia. After that date,the entries in Codex 3, with very few exceptions, are short, oHen consisting of no more than a few lines. Moreover, many days are skipped without a single entry. Thus, from December lst to September 15th, whenVolume 1 of the Arcana was published, Swedenborg's entries averaged a

8 This description is based on the original Catalogue prepared by Swedenborg's heirs(3 Doc. 781). The improbability that Swedenborg would start writing in the middleof an unused volume, suggests that there were two volumes, and that when Swedenborg had thcm bound, the binder bound them in the wrong order.

9 See no. 1879.13 Doc. 836.2 Acton, Introduction to the Word Explained, p. 131.


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4WEDENBORG'S'MEMORABILIAtri fie over one-third of a page 3 a day, while in the corresponding periodpreceding December 1, 1748, Swedenborg's entries averaged almost threeand a third pages a day.

Volume 1 of the Arcana was published in September, 1749,* and aboutthe 16th of that month Swedenborg left London for Rolland. 1 give thisdate as the date of his departure from London because the entry of Sept.15 is the last of the serially dated entries in the Memorabilia. In aIl thesubsequent entries, dates occur very rarely.

On leaving London, Swedenborg went first to Amsterdam, where heasked his friend Joachim Wretman, a prosperous Amsterdam merchant, toreceive aIl his letters and parcels coming by post, and to forward alliettersto an address which he would communicate to him. Re had previouslyinstructed his publisher and others to address him care of ML Wretman.

From Amsterdam Swedenborg went to Aix-la-Chapelle (now Aachen)where he wrote the second volume of the Arcana. The entries in hisMemorabilia during his nine or ten months stay in Aix-la-Chapelle fillonly forty-eight printed pages and are aIl undated. The paragraphs weresubsequently numbered 4390 ta 4544. These entries filled only 151 ofthe 500 pages of Codex 3, leaving 349 pages yet to be written on.

7. The Quarto Volume (Codex Ill). Swedenborg left Aix-la-Chapellein the summer of 1750 for Stockholm. There, when he would continue hisMemorabilia, the volume which he had been using in Aix-la-Chapelle wasnot immediately available. Either it had not been unpacked, or, whichseems more probable, it had been shipped together with copies of volume 1of the Arcana from Aix-la-Chapelle by sea, and had not yet arrived. Bethat as it may, when Swedenborg resumed the writing of his Memorabilia,he used a small quarto book (Codex III) of somewhat over 150 pages.4In this volume, only two of the paragraphs are dated, the penultimateparagraph being dated "the night between the 18th and 19th November,1751." Raving filled his quarto volume, Swedenborg now turned back tothe English Folio Volume which he had already used for his entries up top. 151. The last written page contained only a few lines, but instead ofcontinuing on that page, he commenced on page 152, and continued usingthis volume until the end of the Memorabilia in 1765. In these entriesthere are very few dates. I t may be noted, however, that the fourth entryis dated January I l , 1752, thus -two months after the date of the penultimate paragraph in the quarto volume.

3 In this article, by "pages" 1 mean the pages of the printed Latin text. To refer tothe pages of the manuscript would be misleading, as the amount of writing on eachpage greatly varies.* London Magazine 1749, p. 436.

4 This volume is now known as the MinoT DiaTY.


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5 SH'EDENBORds MEMORABILlAII. The Numbering of the Paragraphs

Swedenborg did not number the paragraphs at the time he wrote them.This can be plainly seen in the manuscript, where the paragraph numbersfrequently overlap the initial letter of the paragraph. The paragraphnumbers were added when Swedenborg was making the Index. The numbering vras done very hastily, and frequently Swedenborg would mistake aprominent line or some other feature for the beginning of a new paragraphwhen, in fact, it was the middle of a sentence. He seems to refer to thisnumbering when he wrote: "1 was extracting the numbers by which l haddesignated the things which were excerpted" (no. 3935).5

1. The Numbering and the True Sequence of the Paragraphs. Thenumbers do not always indicate the order in which the paragraphs werewritten, or the sequence intended by Swedenborg.Sometimes he woulelleave one-half or three-quarters of a page blank and continue on the opposite page, and then, when at the bottom of that page, would continuewith paragraphs on the blank space referred to. Yet he numbered theparagraphs in the arder in which they appear.

A conspicuous example of this difference between the numbering and thetrue sequence is seen in nos. 149-204. As note above (I: 3), these paragraphs were written in a fascicle of sixteen pages which constituted theend pages of a volume of the Index Biblicus which Swedenborg had copiedout. Swedenborg commenced writing on page 5 with the paragraph whichhe subsequently numbered 153. He contlnued to page 15, which containsthe paragraph subsequently numbered 198 "1747 Sept. S." After writingthis paragraph, one-third of page 15 was left blank. His next entry wasdated September 14, but for some reason (judging from the style of writing, the reason seeming to have been because he was in a great hurry), instead of continuing on page 15, he turned back ta page 3 and there wrotewhat later became no. 152, the last few lines of which were on page 4.For his next entry, September 15, he turned back ta page 15 and continueelon page 16 where he wrote five paragraphs, the last being dated "1747,Oct. 9." This filled bath the page and the manuscript; but in the latter,page 2 was still blank. He therefore turned ta that page and there wrotethe three paragraphs dated October 9 and I l and now numbered 149 to151. The paragraphs were later numbered in the arder in which theyoccur, from 149-205. The arder in which they were written, however, is153-199, 152, 200-204, 149-151. Any new edition of the Diary shouldprint the paragraphs in the arder in which they were intended. ThatSwedenborg numbered them differently should have no weight in this respect, for since some considerable time elapsed between Swedenborg's writ

5 This is a literaI translation and differs from the translation in the English edition.


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6WEDENBORG'5 MEMORABILIAing the passages and his numbering them, it is not surprising that he took.no note of the arder in which he had written them.

III. Indexing the Memorabilia1. The Twa Indexes. Ta understand what follows, it should be kept inmind that the sequence in which the Memorabilia were written is as fol

lows:Nos. 1--4544; then nos. 4545-4792 in the Quarto Volume G ; and then

nos. 4545-6110 in the London and Aix-la-Chapelle Folio. Thus nos. 45454792 are duplicated.There are two Indexes, a large and a smal!. In making these Indexes

it was Swedenborg's custom ta number a certain number of paragraphsand then to index them. This is shawn by the fact that the quarto volume (Codex III) is numbered from 4545 ta 4715, but the larger Indexcovers only up ta no. 4644. In like manner, Codex 3 is numbered from3428 ta 6096, but the smaller Index covers only up to no. 6093.

The larger Index embraces the indented paragraphs of The Ward Ex plained, nos. 1--4544 (ail that was then written in the London and Aix-IaChapelle volume at the time when the larger Index was made) and nos.4545-4644 of the quarto volume, the latter number being the last ta beindexed in the larger Index.The smaller Index takes in almost the whole of Codex 3, namely, nos.3428 ta 6093,* and then continues with the whole of the quarto volume.I t may here be added that Swedenborg sometimes added a fraction to

his paragraph number, -J, --;---}, - ~ in arder ta give more specifie references in his Index.Thus nos. 3428-4544 of the folio volume, and nos. 4545--4644 of the

quarto volume were reduplicated. In the case of these duplications, however, the entries in the smaller Index as compared with those in the largerIndex up ta no. 4122 t are very short and are invariably indexed under asingle ward only. Moreover, many numbers are bunched together, andmany are skipped over.In writing the smaller Index, Swedenborg took first the folio volume con

taining nos. 3428-611o-the end of the Memorabilia. This he indexed upta and including no. 6093-no. 6096 was probably the last paragraph written at the time. He then turned ta the quarto volume.7 But here hefound that nos. 4545 to 4644 had already been used to designate passages

G Called the Minor Diary.*The last paragraph of Codex 3, if numbered, would be no. 6110.t Sec below under Dates.7 That Swedenborg indexe:' the quarto volume after the folio, is shown by the fa ct

that in the Index, ail references to the quarto volume come at the end of the entries.


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7 SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIA~ the folio volume already indexed. Therefore, ta avoid confusion, inentering the paragraphs of the quarto volume in his Index, Swedenborgcited the pages of his manuscript, and not the paragraph numbers, althoughthe latter had been written in, from 4545 ta 4715. This is the reason whythe remaining paragraphs of the volume, which would have been 4716 4792, remained unnumbered. There was no need ta number them.

Swedenborg does not seem ta have noticed that even sa there was duplication; for in the smaller Index, nos. 4545-4644 are used ta designate theparagraphs in the folio volume, while in the large Index, the same numbers are used ta designate paragraphs in the quarto volume. Dr. Tafel,in his Latin edition, avoided this confusion by preceding these numbersin the larger Index with the words "Diarium Minus."

2. The Two Indexes Compared. The smaller Index is distinguishedfrom the greater part of the larger by the fact that aIl its entries are shortand, for the most part, are entered under a single ward only. The same istrue of the latter eighth of the large Index, that is, after no. 4122, Dec. 8,1748. This is ta be expected; for during the making of the smaller Indexand the latter one-eighth of the large, Swedenborg was busily engaged onthe Writings. The smaller Index is also unique in that a great many ofits entries are underscored, though for what reason is not apparent.

3. The Date when the Indexes were Made. In Section V: 3 it will beshawn that the larger Index was completed up ta no. 4010 by November28, 1748, and it is probable that Swedenborg continued the indexing untilDecember 9, when he indexed up ta and inc1uding no. 4122; for while theentries up ta no. 4122 are very full and are indexed under several headings, after no. 4122 they are very short and, for the most part, are indexedunder one heading only.

The last entry in this Index is no. 4644 of the quarto volume (CodexIII),S but the paragraphs are numbered up ta 4715. Bearing in mind thatSwedenborg numbered his paragraphs immediately preparatory ta indexingthem, this would suggest that he made his last entry in the larger Index atthe time he wrote no. 4715. This was probably in the spring of 1751,when Swedenborg was writing volume III of the Arcana. The paragraphthat would have been numbered 4725 was written on April 9, 1751.

As ta the smaller Index, which consists of 136 pages as compared withthe 1007 pages of the larger Index, this may have been written at varioustimes, but it is not improbable that it was commenced and completed ina single period. Its last entry is no. 6093; and since no. 6027 is datedMarch 5,1762, and no. 6097, December 30,1763, the smaller Index musthave been completed by the last of these two dates.

S The Minor Diary.


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8WEDENBORG'5 MEMORABILIAThe last paragraph ta be numbered by Swedenborg' is 6096. This,

therefore, was in all probability the last paragraph that was written at thetime Swedenborg completed his smaller Index. Apparently something prevented him from cornpleting the Index. After no. 6096, the work continues for sorne paragraphs which, if numbered, would reach ta 6110.They were not numbered because Swedenborg did not prepare them forindexing.

IV. Dates in the MemorabiliaVery few of the indented passages in The Ward Explained are dated,

though when undated the date can sornetimes be determined by the context. The first of these indented passages to be incIuded in the Index isno. 459, the second is no. 475. This was written about the rniddle of Decernber, 1745; for in that passage, Swedenborg states that he has spokenwith spirits "now for a period of eight rnonths alrnost continuously exceptduring the jourmiy from London to Sweden." From no. 1003 we learnthat this journey lasted for a month. In the same number, which is datedJanuary 29, 1746, Swedenborg states that the beginning of his speech withspirits was in "the middle of April, 1745." Eight months from that timeis the rniddle of Decemher, 1745.* This, then, is the date when Swedenborg commenced his Memorabilia.

As to whether the lost paragraphs, nos. 1-148, written on the end pagesof Codices 60, 61 and 62, were dated, this cannot be deterrnined with certainty, but the fact that the fragment on Gad and Asher is dated (Feb. 8,1747) would suggest that they were.

On July 24th, after having written what were afterwards numbered1-148, Swedenborg left Stockholm for Rolland. The first paragraph hewrote there in his Memorabilia is dated August 19, 1747 Old Style, because Rolland had adopted the New Style, which was eleven days in advance. Re continued to write "Old Style" after his dates until November 24,1747 (no. 267), but that he did not then drop it, is seen from thefact that he repeats "OId Style" in nos. 461-467 (Jan. 11, 1748). Naturally presuming that the OId Style was retained throughout the volume(nos. 149-3427), 1 was greatly perplexed by the fact that the last datedentry in the volume is October 2,1748 (no. 3422) t or possibly, October 4.*The "eight months" must include the month of his journey, for no. 1003 was written on January 29, nine months after April 15.t This is not strictly correct, for no. 3422 is dated "1748, 24 Oct." 1t is followed byfive undated paragraphs (nos. 3423-3427) marked "in via," i.e., on the way from Hol

land to London. "Oct. 24" is clearly an error, for on October 24, New Style or OId,Swedenborg was in England and had continued his Memorabilia in a new volume.To assume that "Oct. 24" was correct, would be to assume that, aCter entering hisspiritual experiences in ninety-three pages of his new volume (nos. 3428-3671, Oct. 2Oct. 23, 1748), Swedenborg then turned back to the old volume, made a single entry


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9 SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIAI f Swedenborg left Rolland on October 2 (or 4) Old Style, how then account for the fact that his first entry in the volume written in London,where the Old Style was still used, is dated October 2 (nos. 3428-3440)?This long perplexed me, and the perplexity was resolved only recentlywhen l noticed that the entry for April 12 is immediately followed by another dated April 23-an interval of eleven days-the difference betweenOld Style and New. Throughout the volume now in question, there arevery few intervals between the dates of more than two or three days.There is only one interval of eleven days (nos. 202-203), and this ismarked Old Style.

Clearly, then, on April 12, 1748, Swedenborg, without noting the fact,changed from Old Style to New Style. Therefore the October 2 (or 4)at the end of the volume, being New Style, was equivalent to September21 (or 23) ld Style. Naturally, therefore, having arrived in Englandwhere the Old Style was still in use, Swedenborg could continue his Memorabilia on October 2.

From nos. 149-4389, that is, from August 19, 1747, to September 15,1748, when Swedenborg left England for Aix-la-Chapelle, the paragraphsare consecutively dated, but from then on, dates are given very rarely. Insome cases, however, the dates can be determined by the context.

In the Aix-la-Chapelle entries (nos. 4396-4544), there is only one passage where the date of writing can be thus determined, namely, no. 4422.There Swedenborg writes that he had received a letter informing him that"in two months no more than four copies [of Arcana Coelestia] had beensold." Since the Arcana was published in September, 1749,* this passagemust have been written at the end of November or early in December.

The quarto volume, which followed the Aix-la-Chapelle writing, contains only one date (n. 4791), but the date of two passages can be determined, namely, no. 4725 and no. 4752. No. 4725 brings in an interestingpoint. In Sweden, after the death of a king or queen or of sorne prominent person, the body lay in state for several days, to be viewed by thepublic. I t was then set aside (bisatties) 9 in a vault and was buried sornemonths later. Thus Bishop Swedberg died on January 26, 1735. Afterthree or four days, his body was set aside in a vault. The funeral andburial were on January 29, 1736.in a space conveniently left blank and then returned to his English volume and, usinga different style of handwriting, made further entries also dated Oct. 24 (3670-3678).Probably the "Oct. 24" in the Holland volume was meant to be October 4, Swedenborg omitting to cross off the "2." In the Memorabilia there are innumerable caseswhere Swedenborg forgets to cross off words, and several cases in which his dates areobviously wrong-and sometimes he corrects them.* London Magazine, 1749, p. 436.

9 The English translator ignores this word.


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10WEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIAIn the passage in question, Swedenborg says that King .Frederick of

Sweden was with him "on the 15th day after his death, and on the saineday he heard that he was being buried, bisatties." 9 This was on April 9,1751. King Frederick died March 25, 1751, was set aside April 9, andwas buried September 21.In no. 4752, Swedenborg states that he spoke with Polhem on the daythe latter was being buried. Polhem died on Friday, August 31, 1751.*He was buried Monday, September 3,1751.

Severallater passages in the Memorabilia give cIues as ta the date. wh enSwedenborg was writing.

No. 4564: Swedenborg spoke with Silfwerstrom on the day he wasburied. George Johannes Silfwerstrom died April 3, and was buried April6,1752.

No. 4618: Swedenborg speaks of being in company with spirits fromeight to nine years. Eight years and six months from the middle of April,1745, is October 15, 1753.

No. 4727: Swedenborg speaks with Christian Wolff in the spiritualworld. Wolff died April 9, 1754.No. 4788: Swedenborg sees Boneschold (not Bondschold) in the spir

.itual world. Gustaf Boneauschold died in 1754.No. 4825: Swedenborg speaks with Cedercreutz in the spiritual world.Herman Cedercreutz died November 24, 1754.No. 4851: Swedenborg makes mention of Lars Benzelstierna in the spiritual world. He died June Il, 1755.No. 5099: Swedenborg speaks of meeting Eric Brahe, ten hours after

his execution. Brahe was beheaded at 9.45 a.m. July 23, 1756.No. 5493 states that Erland Broman was called ta judgment on, the

four th day after his death, i.e., January 23, 1757, for he died on January19.No. 5600 speaks of Aulaeville (not Aulaevil) in the spiritual world.Peter Aulaeville died February 14, 1757.

No. 5833: Swedenborg speaks with the pope "lately deceased," namely,Benedict XIV who died May 3, 1758.No. 5841: Swedenborg spoke with "the last pope" [B.enedict XIV]three weeks after his death, that is, about May 24, 1758.No. 5863: Swedenborg speaks with Vice-President [of the High Court

of Appeal] [Johan) Rosenstolpe. He died July 28, 1758.No. 5976: In the spiritual world, Swedenborg speaks with FrederickGyllenborg, who died August 25,1759.Nos. 5988 and 5993: In the spiritual world, Swedenborg speaks with

Zinzendorf, who died May 9, 1760.*This would be Monday, September 11, New Style.


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11 SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILlANo. 6000: Swedenborg speaks with "a spirit who had been King of Eng

larid, a month after his decease," i.e., about November 26, 1760, for GeorgeII died October 26, 1760.

No. 6033 speaks of the King of England (George II) one and a haHyears after his death. This would be April, 1762.

The last date in the Memorabilia is found in the last number of thework, no. 6110: 73, namely, April 29, 1765. The Memorabilia thereforeextends from December, 1745, to April, 1765-nineteen years and fivemonths.

V. Swedenborg's Activities as Reflected in the MemorabiliaThere are many passages in the Memorabilia from which we can see

what Swedenborg was doing at the time. Thus, in no. 28, the fragmenton Gad and Asher,' he informs us that on February 8, 1747, he was writing in the margin of his Schmidius' Bible "something concerning Jacob'sblessings of his sons, Gen. Chap. 49."

1. Reading the W ordo Swedenborg tells us that when heaven wasopened to him, he read the Word many times. 2 Traces of this consecutivereading can be seen in the early pages of the Memorabilia. Thus, on December 13, 1747, he is reading the Psalms (no. 335). On January 26,1748, he is reading John 16 (no. 581); on the 28th, John 19 (no. 594).On February 7, he is reading Revelation 20 (no. 674). Having finishedthe Book of Revelation, he commenced re-reading the Ward. By May9th, he has reached Leviticus 23 (no. 1909). On the lOth, he is readingLeviticus 26 (no. 1934); on the 15th, Numbers 10 (no. 1961 *); on the19th, Numbers 25 (no. 1995); on the 23d, Deuteronomy 1 (no. 2054).On June 7, he is reading Deuteronomy 27 (no. 2229); on the 10th, Joshua3 (no. 2289); on the 27th Judges 17 and 18 (no. 2411). On July 14th,he is reading l Samuel 9 (no. 2472); on the 16th, II Samuel 12 (no. 2621).By August I1th, he has reached II Kings 8 (no. 2791).

2. Indexing the Bible. The index here referred to is Index Biblicus,Codex 4 t - the latest of the Bible indices. There, not only is the Wardindexed, but its spiritual sense is explained.On August 19, 1747, Swedenborg was entering Isaiah 11 in his IndexBiblicus (no. 154).3 On the 29th, he was "excerpting," to use his own

1 See Section 1: 2.2 2 Documents, 261.*No. 1961 folJows afler no. 1959.t See Section 1: 4.3 See Iungerich, The Schmidills Marginalia, p. 91. The fact that Swedenborg is stillmaking entries in Codex 4 while writing his Memorabilia, makes it clear why he com

menced writing the Memorabilia on the last page of the volume and worked towardthe middle. See above, Section 1: 4.


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SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIA 12words, "the thinss contained in lsaiah 34" (no. 189). On the 31st, hewas writing "something concerning the internaI and external man," thatis, he was entering Isaiah 36 in his Index 4 (no. 190). While indexingIsaiah 37, to quote his own words: 5 "These things were said and shownme today by a golden hand and by the motion of my hand without aprevious will, in order that these words that are being read might beunderstood."

On October 6th, he entered Isaiah 66 in his Index (no. 204). On the25th, he was indexing Jeremiah 30 (no. 220). In the course of this indexing, he writes: G "See what was seen 1747, October 24 X 25,* frommercy, when an image of the Last Judgment and these several detailsoccurred." On October 9th, he was engaged in indexing Ezekiel 7 (no.243).7 On the 12th, he indexed Ezekiel 13 (no. 245), and on the 13th,he was "explainihg," that is, expounding in his Index, the spiritual senseof Ezekiel16 (no. 246). On November 14th, he was engaged on Ezekiel18 (nos. 249-250, describing the stupid spirits who argued with him).8On the 28th, he was indexing Ezekiel 24.t

On November 25, 1748, Swedenborg writes in his Bible Index "1747,25 Old Style." The name of the month is eut off, and Dr.lungerich, following Dr. Tafel (3 Documents, 964), supplies September.I t should, however, be November: "Meanwhile things were written by meconcerning the neighbor, that they should not hold the neighbor in hatred"(no. 2111). This indicates that he is entering Leviticus into his Index. 9I t may be noted that in the Bible Index, the usual arder in which thecitations occur is Isaiah to lVIalachi, the Psalms, Revelation, Exodus toDeuteronomy.

3. The Writing of the Larger Index to the Memorabilia. It should firstbe noted that when Swedenborg was indexing his Memorabilia, he occasionally added a paragraph, usually crammed into whatever space wasavailable. Sometimes also he dated these additions. Thus, no. 792 is

4 See ibid., p. 173."Ibid., p. 175.G Ibid., p. 379.* The reference is to Memorabilia, no. 220. This is dated "1747, the night between

27 and 28 Oct.," but the figures are clearly an error for 24 and 25.7 Ibid., p. 481. There Swedenborg writes: "See what was seen on Oct. 9, 1747" asto a tumult of the sea. October is clearly a slip for November. See Memorabilia,

no. 243.8 See Schmidius' Marginalia, p. 519, where, in his exposition of Ezek. 18: 22, Swe

denborg writes: "This [is written] in the presence of spirits who were dumb; Nov. 14,1747 Old Style. Afterwards they murmured some objections."t See Schmid. Marg., p. 528. There Swedenborg says that he experienced anguishwhile he was writing [his comment on Ezek. 24].9 See Index Biblicus, s.v. Proximus.


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13 SWEDENBORG'S MEMORAB1LIAdated "1748, 15 Feb.," but the next paragraph, unnuA1bered, is dated"1748, Sep. 8." This indicates that on September 8th, Swedenborg wasentering no. 792 in his Index. Sa no. 970, dated 1748, 24 Feb., is fol lowed by an unnumbered paragraph dated 1748, 12 Sep.; and no. 995,dated 1748, 25 Feb., is followed by 995} dated 1748, 12 Sep., indicatingthat these numbers were being indexed on September 12th.

I t does not follow, however, that every paragraph added later indicatesthat it was added at the time of indexing. I t may have been added saonafter the paragraph was written, and even on the same day. But it maybe taken for certain that when a paragraph added later is dated, the dateindicated the time of the indexing.On August 21,1748, Swedenborg was writing about the representativechurch (no. 2877), that is, he was indexing no. 110. We can thereforebe justified in supposing that he commenced indexing nos. 1-109 and theindented portions of The W ord Explained in the beginning of August,1748.

On August 22, he was cursorily reading "concerning the interiors of theWard, as ta what the names and expressions signified" (no. 2885), that is,he was indexing nos. 114 and 115.

On September 2, he was indexing no. 485 on the subject of general influx(no. 3033). On the 3rd, he indexed no. 531, as is clearly suggested bySwedenborg's own words in no. 3049. On the 12th, as already noted, heindexed from nos. 970 ta 995J:, and on the 14th, no. 1048. His statementon September 22, that "things were written concerning things ta come"(no. 3256) indicates that he was then indexing nos. 1463-1466. A day ortwo later he was "extracting what l had written concerning spheres" (no.3338), that is, he was indexing nos. 1534-1538. On September 26, as hehimself tells us (no. 3356), he was entering no. 1577 in his Index. Healso tells us (no. 3417) that on September 30 he was indexing nos. 17191720. Ali the above dates are New Style, but after the beginning of October, when Swedenborg left Holland for London, he uses Old Style.

In London, on October 2, he was "extracting" a passage concerning loveas represented by heat (no. 3444), that is, he was indexing nos. 18551862. On the 5th, he was indexing nos. 1944-1945 concerning man'sproprium, that it is nothing but evil (no. 3474); 1 and on the next day hewas indexing no. 1948 concerning liberty (no. 3495). On October 17th,his Index has reached nos. 2346-2351, for on that day he says that he waswriting "concerning the antidiluvians, that they had hardly any remains"(no. 3593).2 On the 19th he was indexing nos. 2455-2456 "concerningspirits who did not know there is an internaI man" (no. 3616). On the

1 See Index s.v. Indoles at nos. 1944-45.2 Index s.v. Dolus.


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14WEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIAsame day he indexed nos. 2473-2474, on faith and good works (no. 3617).On the 27th, he was writing about the Jewish Church, that its externalssignified things internaI (no. 3738), that is, was indexing no. 2877.

On November 4, he indexed nos. 3118-3119, on the vileness of thingsnatural (no. 3852). On the 7th, he was writing about spirits who progressed ta the ninth use (no. 3901), that is, was indexing nos. 3267-3286.*On the 9th, he writes: "It was observed, when 1 was taking out thosethings, whereby they used deceit that they might destroy me, and infuseadulteries, namely, when 1 was taking out the numbers by which 1 designated the things that were excerpted," etc. (no. 3935).3 This refers tathe indexing of nos. 3534-3536. On the 17th, Swedenborg speaks of having written concerning good works (no. 3979). He was then indexing no.3617. On the 19th, he indexed nos. 3656-3665, concerning the Pontiffand David (no. 3997). On the 28th, he was indexing nos. 4000-4010, onthe influx of the Lord's life and on Providence (no. 4095).

This is the last definite indication in the Memorabilia concerning Swe denborg's work on the larger Index, but it is highly probable that duringthe time that he was writing the early pages of the Arcana, he continuedthe Index up ta and including no. 4122, which was written on December 8,1748; for up ta this point the Index entries are very full and are givenunder several headings, but after no. 4122, they are very short and, forthe most part, are entered under one heading only. Swedenborg was taobusy writing the Arcana ta devote much time ta indexing, or even ta writing out his spiritual experiences.

The rest of the larger Index covered from no. 4123 ta no. 4544 of theFolio volume, and no. 4545 ta no. 4644 of the quarto volume, a total of166 pages.

The Index from the beginning of August ta December 8, 1748, covered1200 pages of the Memorabilia, not including the lost pages or the indented passages of The Word Explained. The rest of the larger Index,nos. 4123-4644, covers 166 pages and was probably written before April9, 175 1, the first ascertainable date after no. 4644. This is indicated bythe fact that Swedenborg nUl1lbered the paragraphs up ta no. 4715 withthe intention of carrying his Index ta that paragraph. For some reason.he was interrupted and stopped indexing at no. 4644.

4. The Writing of the Smaller Index. Nothing definite can be ascertained concerning the til1le when Swedenborg wrote the smaller Index. Itmay have been written at various times, or at one time as a whole. Certainly it was completed some time in the autul1ln of 1763. The last para* Index, s.v. Vsus.3 This is a literaI translation. The translation in the English edition is very different.


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IS SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIAgraph indexed is no. 6093, and the last numbered paragraph is no. 6096,while the paragraph which, if numbered, would have been no. 6097, isdated 1763, 30 December.

5. Personal Incidents. Rere and there in the 1\1emorabilia, Swedenborgmentions sundry personal incidents in his life in the country where he wasresidlng. Thus, in Rolland, on February 23, 1748, after having writtenconcerning spirits who correspond ta one part or other of the viscera ofthe human body, he read in his Animal Kingdom "concerning the visceraof the body and the causes deduced therefrom" (no. 955).

On March 3d, he declared for whom his Animal Kingdom had been intended (no. 1145). On the next day he wrote a letter (no. 1166).On August 13th, he saw an insane woman on the street in Amsterdam

(no. 2808). On the 27th, he purchased cheese 1 at an Amsterdam shop(no. 2954).On September 24th, Swedenborg dreamed concerning his Iost writings

and the fireplace where they were burned (no. 3296); and on the 25th herecalls what he had written in the Animal Kingdom concerning the Iungs(no. 3321).

In London, on October 10, 1748, he attended a service, apparently afuneraI service, at St. Paul's Cathedral (no. 3520). Re was then livingin two rooms, in one of which were his books, and there he was accustomed to do his writing (nos. 3605, 3608).On November 23, he changed his Iodgings (flyleaf of Codex 3- the foliovolume commenced in London; see Section 1: 6).

On J:ebruary 17, 1749, he "took sorne words from my Collection ta insert in what 1 am writing," namely, the Arcana Coelestia (no. 4143).

On August 24, he was "collecting seeds" (no. 4372), presumably for hisgarden in Rornsgatan which he had left in charge of a gardener.

At the end of November, 1750, Swedenborg, in Aix-la-Chapelle, receiveda letter from Lewis the publisher of the Arcana Coelestia, informing himthat only four copies ofthat work had been sold in two months (no. 4422).On September 3, 1751, he was present at the funeraI of ChristopherPolhem (1\1 4752).

On April 6, 1752, he was present at the funeraI of George JohannesSilfwerstrom (no. 4564).

In the spring or summer of 1752, he spoke with sorne persons in a churchin Stockholm, about man's life after death. They believed that man doesnot rise until the day of the Last Judgment, and then in his earthly body.Swedenborg vainly instructs them, they not knowing that he spoke fromexperience (no. 4568).

1 The Latin text reads costum (an aromatic plant) which the English translatorrenders aintment. The true reading is caseum (cheese).


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16WEDENBORG'S MEMORABILlA

In the spring or early summer of 1759, Swedenborg in London heard,probably from Lewis, that many persons had looked into the books onHeaven and HeU, etc., and, not being pleased with them, had turned away(no. 5931).

In London, Swedenborg took lodgings with an "organista," probably anorgan builder,' who was opposed to the Moravians (no. 5990).

In the spring or summer of 1760, in Stockholm, he spoke with a womanwho had been a fellow traveler (either from London to Gothenburg, orfrom London to Stockholm), on things of interior wisdom which he hadwritten in the Apocalypse Explained, and she "understood them clearly"(no. 5997).

VI. Countries in w h i c ~ Swedenborg wrote the MemorabiliaThe indented passages of The Word Explained and nos. 1-148 of the

Memorabilia were written in Sweden from December, 1746, to August,1747. Nos. 149-3427 were written in Rolland from August, 1747, to October 4 (Sept. 23 Old Style), 1748. Nos. 3428-4389 were written in England from October 2, 1748, to September 15, 1749. Nos. 4390-4544 werewritten in Aix-la-Chapelle from September, 1749, to the summer of 1750.Nos. 4545-4792 of the quarto volume (Codex I l l ) 6 were written in Sweden from the summer of 1750 to near the end of 17 51. Nos. 4545-5850were also written in Sweden from 1752 to about the middle of 1758. Fromabout no. 4851 to about no. 5970 was written in England from the summer of 1758 to ]uly, 1759; note the use of the English word "that" in no.5950. Some of the paragraphs after no. 5950 may have been written inRolland while Swedenborg was en route from London to Gothenburg,where he arrived in ]uly, 1759. From about no. 5971 to about no. 6027or beyond, was written in Sweden, from ]uly, 1759, to Mareh 5, 1762.From about no. 6050 to no. 6097 or further was written in Rolland. Therest of the work was written in Sweden.

VII. Is "The Spiritual Diary" an Appropriate Title?1. Historie Account of the Titles. The manuseript of the Memorabilia

has no title. Of this we can be sure, although no. l is among the lostpages; for this no. 1 was a paragraph written at the end of Codex 60,*and it was long after writing it that Swedenborg marked it no. 1.

In his references to the work, Swedenborg uses different expressions. 1have found eight sueh references.

5 The Swedish for organist is the same as the English.6 See Section 1: 7.*See Section 1: 2.


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17 SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIA

1. "Things written and dictated at the end of the present Tome"Codex 60 (WE no. 1772).

2. "Concerning Gad and Asher, see Experience, Tome III (Cod. 61)at the end" (Marginalia in Schmidius' Biblia at Gen. 49: 20).7

3. "See the Annotations concerning the spirits around me in Tome IV[Codex 62] at the end" (ibid., at Gen. 9: 12).

4. "See what was seen, 1747, Oct. 24 X 25" (Ind. Bib., S.v. Pax atJer. 30: 6-8).t

5. "See what was seen Nov. 8 9, 1747" (Ind. Bib., s.V. Mare at Ezek.7: 7).0

6. "My Collection" (Mem. no. 4143).7. "Collections" (De Dom. no. 36).8. "Collections from the Spiritual World" (Ath. no. 123).

In the original catalogue of Swedenborg's manuscripts, drawn up by hisheirs, the work is called Memorabilia. In Pernety's Catalogue and likewise in Chastanier's, it is called Collection of Memorabilia. In the firstofficial catalogue made by the Royal Library in Stockholm, it is listed asMemorabilia.

Dr. lm. J. F. Tafel, the editor of the Latin edition, was the first ta givethe work the title Spiritual Diary, but to three of his seven "Parts" headded the subtitle, or Memorabilia, and to two, the subtitle, or Collectionof M emorabilia. In this the English translators have not followed him.In the Potts' CONCORDANCE and in contemporary Iiterature, the work isusually referred to as The Spiritual Diary, though sometimes the titleMemorabilia is used.

2. 1s the W ork a Diary? The Memorabilia consists of 2,026 printedpages. Of these pages, 1,288 or seven-elevenths of the work, are datedconsecutively, while in the remaining 736 pages, being four-elevenths ofthe work, the dates are few and far between. This gives a strong appearance of a diary, but the appearance becomes somewhat less striking if thesequence of the dates is observed. From August 19, 1747, ta November31, 1748-about which latter date Swedenborg commenced writing theArcana Coelestia-that is, 469 days, there are only 94 days on which Swedenborg fails ta make an entry; indeed, the number is probably much less,since there are many undated passages. In striking comparison with this

7 See Iungerich's The Schmidius Marginalia, p. 35.t Ibid., p. 379. The reference is to Mem., no. 243.S The text has "Oct." but this is dearly an error. as seen in !I femorabilia, no. 220,

which is the passage referred to.9 See ibid., p. 481.


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18WEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIAis the fact that from December 1, 1748, to September 15, 1749,* that is,290 days, there are 102 on which Swedenborg makes no entry. To putthe matter another way, from August 19, 1747, to November 31, 1748,Swedenborg wrote an average of a little over 2-} pages a day, while fromDecember 1, 1748, to September 15, 1749, he wrote an average of a trilleover one-third of a page a day.

After September 15, 1749, when Swedenborg left London for Aix-IaChapelle, ail appearance of a diary vanishes. Not only are the dates fewand far between, but there must have been weeks, and even months, whenSwedenborg made no entry. Thus, from September 15 (no. 4389) to November 19, 1751 (no. 4791 of the quarto volume), Swedenborg's entriesamount to an average of only five pages a month, and from September 15,1749, to April 29, 1765 (no. 6110 is the end of the MemorabiIia), hewrote an average of only four pages a month, and, excluding the year 1757with its lengthy accounts of the Last Judgment, his average entries wereonly. three pages a month.Contrasting the entries made before Swedenborg commenced the Arcanawith those made afterwards, from August, 1747, to November 31, 1748,Swedenborg entered an average of 74 pages a month; from December 1,1748, to April 29, 1765-during which time Swedenborg wrote ArcanaCoelestia, Heaven and HeU, and four other works, Apocalypse Explainedand several small works-his entries average 4i" pages a month, or, excluding the year 1757, a trifie over 3-1 pages.

3. Why did Swedenborg date part of the Memorabilia and not aU? Thequestion arises, Why did Swedenborg begin the Memorabilia by dating hisentries after the manner of a diary or journal? and why did he stop datingthem? One can only conjecture, but the conjecture may approach probabiIity.

Whenever Swedenborg traveled, it had been his practice to keep a journal. He had kept such a journal during his travels from 1710 to 1715.This he Ieft in Hamburg/ and apparently it was never more recoveredsince ail trace of it has been lost. The journals of his travels in 1722,1733, and 1736 are still extant. In 1743, he commenced a journal oftravels, but it saon merged into a journal of dreams. And now, in 1746,when his spiritual eyes had been opened, he continued his old practice andwrote his spiritual experiences also in the form of a journal-though interspersed with many passages containing doctrinal instruction.After September 15, when the first volume of the Arcana Coelestia waspublished, that is, after the publication of his first work as revelator, he*This is the last of the continuous dates. The rest of the work contains only a

few scattered dates.1 Acton, Letters and Memorials of E.S., p. 94.


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19

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SWEDENBORG'S MEMORABILIA

felt that his spiritual experiences were no longer to be recounted in a formsuggestive of a personal journal, but were to be written as an expositionof the doctrine of the New Church, especially the doctrine concerning thespiritual world. That is my conjecture.4. What is the Appropriate Title of the Work? ln considering thequestion of an appropriate title for the work under consideration, oneshould certainly ask himself the question, What title would Swedenborghave given the work had he designed to publish it? As pointed out above,he refers to it as "my Collections," "Collections from the Spiritual World,"

and "what was seen"-titles which are in no way suggestive of a diary orjournal. The question 1 have just propounded can, 1 think, be answeredwith sorne degree of assurance if consideration be given to Swedenborg'spractice when relating phenomena in the spiritual world. Whenever herelates such phenomena in detail, he invariably uses the word memorabile.Moreover, he uses the same word when, in the course of a doctrinal ex-position, he tums aside, as it were, to relate sorne illustrative incident inthe spiritual world; his usual expression being, "and here 1 will relate thismemorabile," or words to that effect.This consideration, and consideration also of the fact that after thepublication of the Arcana Coelestia Swedenborg abandoned the journalform, should give much weight to the suggestion that in future editions,the title "Spiritual Diary" should no longer be used, and that in its placea title should be adopted which would be in harmony not only with Swe-denborg's practice but also with his own references to the work, as givenabove. "Memorabilia from the Spiritual World," "A Collection of Memo-rabilia from the' Spiritual World," "Memorabilia, Being Things Seen andHeard in the Spiritual World"; any one of these titles would be in suchharmony.One objection raised to abolishing the title "Spiritual Diary," is thatreferences in the collateralliterature of the Church, and in the Potts' CON-CORDANCE are practicaIly aIl to "The Spiritual Diary," and to change thetitle would cause bewilderment and confusion.1 think that no weight should be attached to this objection. Attentionshould be focused on the question, What is the most appropriate and de-scriptive title? I f the title "Spiritual Diary" is not a suitable title andwe still retain it in a new edition, a future generation may justly complainthat we have still further. hampered its freedom of choice. For the im-mediate future, however, a concession might be made by adding in pa-rentheses the words "Spiritual Diary."

1 have not touched upon arguments that have' been advanced against thetitle "Spiritual Diary" and its implications, because 1 prefer to rest thesuggestion of a title solely on its intrinsic merits.

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