In the years 1884-1897 Rudolf Steiner edited Goethe's scientific writings for the series "German National Literature" of the publisher Kürschner.
In Goethe's works, each individual experience is not an end in itself, but serves to substantiate a single, great idea: the unceasing harmonious becoming of the universe, revealed in this volume.
"The dominant influence in Steiner's life was that of Goethe. In 1833 he was invited to edit Goethe's scientific writings for the planned canonical edition, and his first publications, dating from 1866, are on Goethe. In 1890 he left Vienna and for six years went to work at the Goethe Archives in Weimar, strong not only in an orthodox culture that the following year would earn him a degree in philosophy at Rostock, but also in a very large body of general knowledge about all known disciplines."
