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The Rationalist Association, originally the Rationalist Press Association, is an organization in the United Kingdom, founded in 1885 by a group of freethinkers who were unhappy with the increasingly political and decreasingly intellectual tenor of the British secularist movement. The purpose of the Rationalist Press Association was to publish literature that was too anti-religious to be handled by mainstream publishers and booksellers. The Rationalist Press Association changed its name to "The Rationalist Association" in 2002.
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's books. 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. 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, Ernst Haeckel and Matthew Arnold. 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. It currently publishes a quarterly magazine, the New Humanist.
In 2006, Jonathan Miller 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".
Presidents and chairs
Rationalist Press Association members for 1917 published in The R.P.A. Annual for the Year 1917
Presidents and chairs of the Rationalist Association
Gould, F.J. (1929), The Pioneers of Johnson's Court, London: Watts & Co.
Whyte, Adam Gowans (1949), The Story of the R.P.A. 1899-1949, London: Watts & Co.
Cooke, Bill (2003), The Blasphemy Depot: A Hundred Years of the Rationalist Press Association, London: Rationalist Press Association, ISBN0-301-00302-5
