The following lectures were given by Rudolf Steiner to audiences familiar with the general background of his anthroposophical teachings. He constantly emphasized the distinction between his written works and 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.’