Our Story

The «pre-history» of the Press began when Henry Monges obtained, from one Max Gysi, the copyrights for the five already published English translations of books by Rudolf Steiner. This was in 1916 or 1917, before the U.S. entered the World War. After the War, in 1919, Monges went to Dornach, Switzerland and spent two years there, meeting with Rudolf Steiner regularly and also improving his German. Returning to the U.S. in 1921, he established a soon-to-be short-lived publishing company with a partner in Chicago called «Anthroposophic Literary Concern.» When this endeavor collapsed, Monges and his wife Maud Monges took what remained of the book business with them to their country home in Highland, NY, where they continued operations. (Thus, the work-from-home trend heavily present in this organization in recent years is actually a throwback to its roots.)

But when the Anthroposophical Society was re-founded by Rudolf Steiner in 1924, the now renamed «Anthroposophic Press» joined the Society at the new headquarters in New York City (then at 20 West 70th St.) and Monges ran both, his office handling correspondence for the Society as well as book sales.

A few years later, in February 1928, the Anthroposophic Press was incorporated in New York State as an independent tax-exempt corporation, although the work of the Press did not become an activity entirely separate from the Society until 1935. This was when Eleanor Minné was hired. Ms. Minné ran the book business for a full thirty years, keeping it going through hard and lean times. According to Gilbert Church, in his account of the history of the Press: «her dedication to the work of Rudolf Steiner was motivated by the courage of a fighter and she should not be forgotten.»

It’s at this point that we should mention the first parallel publishing stream, later to join with the one outlined thus far. This stream was born, at least in part, because, while Ms. Minné did indeed ably keep the Press alive and functioning for all those years, she was not in fact very actively engaged in publishing NEW works, by Rudolf Steiner or anyone else. Enter Bernard J. Garber of Blauvelt, New York.

Bernie was a businessman and a serious student of Rudolf Steiner who, by the late 1950s, had become strongly convinced that far more needed to be done to raise awareness of Steiner’s work in the United States. He had enjoyed some success in business and was willing to invest some if not all of his earnings in that realm for a spiritual cause he believed in, never mind the immediate monetary returns.

Thus, in 1959, he became a publisher, soon producing a regular magazine featuring excerpts of and introductions to Rudolf Steiner, as well as other authors, called Free Deeds, and undertaking to publish (with the expert linguistic and editorial aid of his friend Paul Marshall Allen) a series of books in commemoration of Rudolf Steiner’s hundredth birthday in 1961, including Steiner’s Autobiography and his Philosophy of Spiritual Activity. He also became a publisher of old, somewhat forgotten, classics from spiritual literature of the East and the West.

Meanwhile, in 1965, Gilbert Church took over the management of the Press, which was still located physically at the Society headquarters (211 Madison Avenue), in a small space rented from the Society. Church updated the old-fashioned bookkeeping system, doubled the inventory, began regular mailings to members (including periodic fundraising letters), and worked to grow and professionalize the business.

In 1968, the Press offices (and inventory) moved to a space in the Threefold Auditorium in Spring Valley, NY, separating itself physically from the Society. Church retired in 1981, but not before training his young successor, Stephen Usher.

The Press continued to grow throughout the 1980s, and, in 1985, running out of space for inventory, Mr. Usher moved the operation once again, this time to Columbia County, New York, to a 7,000 square foot warehouse which served as home to both the editorial offices and the shipping operation until around the turn of the century.

In 1989, Christopher Bamford, founder of Lindisfarne Books some years earlier, was hired as editor-in-chief; while Michael Dobson succeeded Usher as managing director. Lindisfarne at this time became an imprint owned by the Press and the titles already published by Lindisfarne became part of our back catalog, expanding, in a way, the cultural/spiritual scope of what The Press had to offer. (Note: More on the backstory of Lindisfarne will have to be filled in later.) In 1998, the editorial offices moved to Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and in the year 2000, the warehousing of inventory and the fulfillment operation were moved to Dulles, Virginia, where it remains, with our much-appreciated partners Books International.

In 2006, Gene and Christopher Bamford launched the Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner in English project. With over 350 volumes in the not-quite-yet-completed German edition, this series of books, translated into English, is a major ongoing project and a core part of our mission and work.