The
following lectures were given by Rudolf Steiner to an audience
familiar with the general background of his anthroposophical
teachings. He constantly emphasised the distinction between his
written works on the one hand and, on the other, reports of lectures
which were given as oral communications and were not originally
intended for print. It should also be remembered that certain
premises were taken for granted when the words were spoken. These
premises, Rudolf Steiner writes in his autobiography, include
at the very least the anthroposophical knowledge of Man and of the
Cosmos in its spiritual essence; also of what may be called
'anthroposophical history', told as an outcome of research into the
spiritual world.
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A list of publications in English translation suggested for study in
connection with the following lectures and a summarised plan of
the Complete Edition of Rudolf Steiner's works in the original German
will be found at the end of the present volume.