The Voice of the Silence

What it is

This is a copy of The Voice of the Silence, a theosophical book published by the theosophical publishing company, which was sent to Leo Tolstoy by Helena Blavatsky and kept in his personal library at Yasnaya Polyana.

Why it matters

The book connects Tolstoy to the theosophical movement led by Blavatsky, a major figure in Western interest in Eastern religions at the time. Its presence in his library shows his curiosity about Eastern spiritual traditions, which fed into his own universalist religious writing.

Look closer

• What do the library stamps and handwritten marks on the title page tell us about how the book was kept and catalogued?
• Why might Blavatsky have chosen to send this particular book to Tolstoy?
• What might owning a book tell us, or not tell us, about how much a person agreed with its ideas?