Healthy Thinking

About the publications from Rudolf Steiner's lectures Rudolf Steiner always gave his lectures freely, that is, without a manuscript. He recorded many of his preliminary considerations in his notebooks merely in keywords, sometimes in short sentences, diagrams or sketches, without elaborating them further in writing. Only in very few cases are there prepared written summaries that were intended for translators. He did, however, agree to the publication of his lectures, even if he himself was only able to prepare a few for print. The lectures published in the Rudolf Steiner Complete Edition are usually based on transcriptions of stenographic notes made during the lecture by listeners or expert stenographers consulted. Occasionally — and this applies to the early years of his lecturing activities, up to about 1905 — written transcriptions by listeners also serve as the basis for the text. For printing, the transcriptions in longhand or audience notes are thoroughly checked by the editors, especially with regard to sense, sentence structure and accuracy of the reproduction of quotations, proper names or technical terms. In case of complications, such as undecipherable sentences and words or gaps in the text, the original stenographs are consulted for clarification, if available. Further information concerning the specifics of the textual basis, the editing, and the history of the lectures published in this volume can be found at the end of the volume. The editors