The Rationalist Association was a charity in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

which published '' New Humanist'' magazine between 1885 and 2025. Since 2025, the Rationalist Press has been the publishing imprint of

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent Irreligion in the United Kingdom, non-religious people in the UK throug ...

. The original Rationalist Press Association (RPA) was founded in 1885 by a group of freethinkers who were unhappy with the increasingly political and decreasingly intellectual tenor of the British secularist movement, which made its name publishing cheap reprints of classic literature – such as works by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

and

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

– through its Thinker's Library series, along with literature that was deemed too anti-religious to be handled by mainstream publishers and booksellers. In 2002, the RPA became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rationalist Association, a charity established to continue its work. In 2025, the Rationalist Association merged with Humanists UK, which took over ownership of the RPA and publication of ''New Humanist''. As the Rationalist Press, the original 1885 RPA became the publishing imprint of Humanists UK.

History

The impetus for the creation of the Rationalist Press Association can be traced back to Charles Albert Watts, the publisher who printed the ''National Reformer'' and a majority of

Charles Bradlaugh Charles Bradlaugh (; 26 September 1833 – 30 January 1891) was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851. In 1880, Br ...

's books.Colin Campbell. 1971. ''Towards a Sociology of Irreligion''. London: MacMillan Press. In 1890 Watts formed the Propagandist Press Committee, with George Jacob Holyoake as president, in order to circumvent the problem caused by booksellers who refused to handle secularist books. Holyoake remained president as the committee changed its name to the Rationalist Press Committee and finally settled on the Rationalist Press Association in 1899.Joseph McCabe. 1908. ''Life and Letters of George Jacob Holyoake, Volume 2''. London: Watts & Co. Members of the association paid a subscription fee and received books annually to the value of that fee. The Association became quite successful after 1902, when it started selling reprints of serious scientific works by authors such as

Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and Internationalism (politics), internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentiet ...

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, natural history, naturalist, eugenics, eugenicist, Philosophy, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biology, marine biologist and artist ...

and

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold (academic), Tom Arnold, literary professor, and Willi ...

. It achieved even greater success through the '' Thinker's Library'' series of books, published by Watts & Co. from 1929 until 1951 under the leadership of Charles Watts's son Fredrick. The Association's continued success in selling books of a heretical nature, mostly by agnostic or atheist authors, contributed to a growing rationalist zeal and a growing demand for this type of literature. By 1959 the Association had reached its highest membership, with more than 5,000 members. Yet its success also contributed to its demise: rationalist literature became so popular that the Association's readership was taken by larger, more established mainstream publishers. The result was a steady decline in membership. In 2002, the Association changed its name to The Rationalist Association. In 2006,

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, comedian and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...

was chosen to be its president. He said in response to being chosen: "Not believing in religion is very widespread, but I think this community gets overlooked. I am flattered and honoured". In Jan 2025, the organisation merged with

, which now publishes the quarterly magazine, '' New Humanist''.

Presidents and chairs

References

Bibliography

* A study in political psychology. * * * * *

External links

*
Rationalist Association Archive Collection
at Archives Hub
Works printed by the Rationalist Press Association
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

{{European Humanist Federation Humanist associations Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1899 Rationalism Secularism in the United Kingdom 1899 establishments in the United Kingdom

History

Presidents and chairs

See also

References

Bibliography

External links