Preface to the 1985 German
Edition
The lectures, addresses and contributions
to discussions given by Rudolf Steiner at the Christmas
Conference for the Founding of the General Anthroposophical
Society in 1923/24 were first published by Marie Steiner
twenty-one years later. She undertook the revision of the
text and wrote the introductory and concluding words. The
original form of Marie Steiner's presentation has been
maintained in the present new edition within the framework of the
Complete Works.
Any changes made in the text
after comparison with the existing records have been
documented in the Notes. A Supplement has been added
containing facsimile reproductions of documents in Rudolf
Steiner's handwriting as well as of texts and diagrams made
on the blackboard during the Conference.
The Conference
was for members of the Anthroposophical Society only. This
fact determined the tone of Rudolf Steiner's contributions,
especially the lectures. ‘I was permitted to speak in
internal circles in a manner which would have had to be
different had I spoken publicly from the start.’
(The Course of my Life)
The records
taken down in shorthand were originally not intended for
publication, and Rudolf Steiner was unable to check them
himself. Though for the greatest part they may be assumed to
be verbatim, nevertheless, as with all his published
lectures, account must be taken of his own proviso in this
matter: ‘There will be nothing for it but to accept
that there may be mistakes in the records I have been unable
to check myself.
A judgment on the content of these private publications
will in any event only be
acceptable when it is based on that knowledge which is a
prerequisite for such judgment. In the case of most of these
publications this is at least the knowledge of man
and the universe as given by Anthroposophy, and also what may
be found under the heading “anthroposophical
history” in the wisdom that has been received from the
spiritual world.’
(The Course of my Life)
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