The Life Divine first appeared in the monthly journal Arya, its fifty-two original chapters being published in fifty-four instalments between August l914 and January 1919. In l939 and 1940 Sri Aurobindo revised and enlarged these chapters preparatory to the publication of the work in book form by the Arya Publishing House, Calcutta. The twenty-eight chapters which make up Book One, published in November 1939 as "Volume I". include the first twenty-seven chapters from the Arya (with the same titles and in the same order) and, in addition, a twenty-eighth chapter which is entirely new. With the exception of Chapter XIX and Chapter XXIII, both of which received major additions and changes, the revision fit the chapters of' Book One was confined to the alteration and addition of marks of punctuation, words of short passages.
The first edition of Book Two. "recast and enlarged", was published in July 1940 as "Volume II". in two parts hound separately. Among its twenty-eight chapters were included twelve that were entirely new: Chapters I. 11. V. VI. X. XIV. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII and XXVIII. Or the remaining sixteen chapters. eleven, namely Chapters Ill. IV. VII. VIII. IX, XI. XII, XIII. XVII. XIX and XX. were similar to Arya chapters: nevertheless all of them were substantially revised and several were given new titles. Chapters XV, XVI. XVIII. XXI and XXII contain some material from the Arya, but much that was entirely new. Chapters XVIII and XXI were so thoroughly revised that they may be considered new.
The Arya Publishing House published a second edition of Book One as "Volume I" in 1943 and a second edition of Book Two, Parts I and 11. bound together, as "Volume II" in 1944. These second editions incorporate a few minor corrections and changes of the author. A third edition of Book One only was published as "Volume I" by the Arya Publishing House in 1947.
The first American edition of The Life Divine was published in 1049 by the Sri Aurobindo Library. New York. A second impression of this edition was issued by the same publisher in 1951. and a third impression by the India Library Society. New York, in 1965. In all these impressions the two Books were combined in a single volume, and a comprehensive index was provided.
The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education. Pondicherry, published two impressions of the fourth Indian edition of The Life Divine, both complete in one volume, in 1955 and 1960. The fifth edition was published by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. in 1970. Three impressions were issued that year. The first formed part of the de luxe edition of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library. Book One and Book Two Part I comprising Volume 18 and Book Two Part I comprising Volume I9 of the set. The second impression constituted the corresponding volumes of the popular edition of the Centenary Edition, a facsimile reproduction of the de luxe edition. The third impression was reproduced similarly in two volumes but in a reduced format. The fourth impression (1973) was identical to the third, except that it included a glossary of Sanskrit terms and two appendixes. The fifth and sixth impressions (1977 and 1980) incorporated a few corrections of typographical and editorial errors and included a new index and glossary. The fifth impression was in two volumes, the sixth bound as one.
The seventh impression (1982). like the five preceding impressions, was reproduced a photo-offset from the fifth edition (1970). the de luxe Centenary Edition. It incorporated for the first time a few minor corrections made by the author in his copy of the 1940 edition. The present impression is identical to the seventh.
