Abstract
The New Age philosopher, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), was the most prolific and arguably the most influential philosopher of his era. He assembled a substantial library, of approximately 9,000 items, which has been preserved intact since his death. Most of Rudolf Steiner’s books are in German, his native language however there are books in other languages, including English, French, Italian, Swedish, Sanskrit and Latin. His library hosts more books in English than in any other foreign language. Steiner esteemed English as “a universal world languageâ€. The present paper identifies 327 books in English in Rudolf Steiner’s personal library. Fifty percent of the English-language books identified are categorized as Theosophy (n=164). Rudolf Steiner was the General Secretary of the German branch of the Theosophy Society from 1902, and he hived off his own Anthroposophy Society in 1912. The present study reveals that Steiner maintained his interest in theosophy throughout his life as he stayed up to date with the proliferating portfolio of Theosophy publications. The publication dates of Steiner’s Theosophy collection range from 1877 to 1923. The leading exponents of Theosophy in his day are well represented in Steiner’s collection, including Annie Besant (n=61), Charles Lead beater (n=13), William Westcott (n=13) and Helena Blavatsky (n=10). Of the other 50% of the Anglo-books identified, 20% are in the category of Religion (n=67), 10% are Social Science (n=33), 6% are Philosophy (n=21), 4% are Science (n=13), and 3% each are Anthroposophy (n=11), History (n=9) and Arts (n=9). The publication dates of Steiner’s Anglo-books span the period 1659 to 1925. This demonstrates that Steiner was acquiring Anglo-books right to the end of his life. Steiner’s library throws light on the development of the thoughts of this remarkable individual and the present paper reveals Steiner’s engagement throughout his life with the world of Anglo-publishing and thought.
Highlights
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was a New Age philosopher, mystic and polymath who has left an enduring legacy of alternative practices in a variety of domains
The most notable and visible elements of that legacy are biodynamic farming, Waldorf education, organic architecture, and the Anthroposophy Society
The personal library of Rudolf Steiner is a library reportedly of about 9000 items according to the Rudolf Steiner Archive of Dornach
Summary
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was a New Age philosopher, mystic and polymath who has left an enduring legacy of alternative practices in a variety of domains. Rudolf Steiner always spoke to his English-speaking audiences in German. He requested, as he did at Oxford, “forgiveness that I cannot speak to you in the language of this country. Rudolf Steiner’s personal library reveals a trove of books in English that he acquired over a lifetime, despite not publicly speaking the language. Gunther Wachsmuth relates his personal testimony that: “from his sick bed, Rudolf Steiner continued as always to do an enormous amount of reading, keeping himself abreast continuously of new publications in science, art, history and all other fields of work Since he could no longer visit the bookshops and the dealers in antiquarian rarities, I was given the difficult job of regularly selecting and buying books which might be of interest to him. The present paper identifies the English-language books of that library
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