About the Publication of
Rudolf Steiner's Lectures
The
works written and published by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)
constitute the foundation of anthroposophically oriented
spiritual science. From 1900 to 1924, however, Steiner also
gave a number of lectures and courses to the general public and
to members of the Theosophical (later the Anthroposophical)
Society. At first, he himself expressed the wish not to have
his lectures, which were always delivered in loose form from a
few sketches, committed to paper since they were “oral
communications and not intended for publication.” However,
after some of his listeners had increasingly prepared and
circulated incomplete and erroneous written reports of these
lectures, Steiner felt compelled to regulate these practices
and entrusted Marie Steiner-von Sievers with the task. She had
to choose stenographers, administer the reports and take care
of the editing for publication. Since Rudolf Steiner did not,
except in a few isolated cases, have the time to correct the
reports himself, his caveat regarding all publications of
lectures must be taken into consideration: “What will have to
be accepted, however, is that the transcriptions not checked by
me may contain some errors.”
In
his autobiography, The Course of My Life (Chapter 35),
Rudolf Steiner comments on the relationship of lectures for
members, which initially were available only as internal
printings of manuscripts, to his public writings. The exact
text of these remarks can be found at the end of this volume.
What is stated there is also applicable to the courses on
special subject matters which addressed themselves to a limited
circle of participants who were familiar with the foundations
of spiritual science.
After the death of Marie Steiner (1867-1948), the publication
of a complete edition of Rudolf Steiner's works was begun in
accordance with her instructions. This volume is part of the
complete edition. To the extent necessary, more information on
the original texts is provided at the beginning of the
“Footnotes.”
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