D. N. Dunlop (1868-1935) combined remarkable practical and organizational abilities in industry and commerce along with the gifts of spiritual and esoteric capacities. A personal friend of W. B. Yeats and Rudolf Steiner, Dunlop was responsible for establishing the World Power Conference (today the World Energy Council) and played leading roles in the Theosophical Society and later in the Anthroposophical Society. In his business life, he pioneered a cooperative approach toward the emerging global economy.
Meyer's compelling narrative of Dunlop's life begins on the Isle of Arran, where the motherless boy is raised by his grandfather. In a landscape rich with prehistoric standing stones, the young Dunlop had formative spiritual experiences. When his grandfather died, he struggled for material survival and devotedly studied esoteric literature.
The scene moved to Dublin, where Dunlop became a friend of W.B. Yeats and the clairvoyant poet A.E., and developed an active interest in Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy. Arriving in London via New York, Dunlop became a lecturer, a writer, and the editor of a monthly journal. Along with his esoteric interests, he rose to a foremost position in the British electrical industry and masterminded the first World Power Conference.
Dunlop's life was changed forever when he met Rudolf Steiner--an encounter that "brought instant recognition." He was convinced immediately that Steiner was "the Knower, the Initiate, the bearer of the Spirit to his age." Dunlop's close involvement with Anthroposophy, leading to his eventual position as chair of the British Society, is described in detail--from the momentous conferences in Penmaenmawr and Torquay to his transformative relationships with Eleanor Merry, Walter Johannes Stein, Ita Wegman, and Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz. Meyer features important material on the Anthroposophical Society's tragic split, which allows a true evaluation of that difficult period in the organization's history.
This enlarged, second edition features substantial additions of new material and an afterword by Owen Barfield.
Barfield, Owen: - Owen Barfield (1898-1997), the British philosopher and critic, has been called the "First and Last Inkling," because of his influence and enduring role in the group known as the Oxford Inklings. The Inklings included C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. It was Barfield who first advanced the ideas about language, myth, and belief that became identified with the thinking and art of the Inklings. He is the author of numerous books, including Poetic Diction: A Study in Meaning; Romanticism Comes of Age; Unancestoral Voice; History in English Words; and Worlds Apart: A Dialogue of the 1960s. His history of the evolution of human consciousness, Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry, achieved a place in the list of the "100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century."
Meyer, T. H.: - T. H. Meyer was born in Switzerland in 1950. He is the founder of Perseus Verlag, Basel, and is editor of the monthly journal Der Europäer. He has written numerous articles and is the author of several books, including Reality, Truth, and Evil (2005) and major biographies of D.N. Dunlop and Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz. He also edited Light for the New Millennium (1997) describing Rudolf Steiner's association with Helmuth and Eliza von Moltke.
