The Complete Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis

James Strachey was a friend of Sigmund Freud who, with his wife Alix, translated Freud’s works at Freud’s own request. He was responsible for translation of the magisterial 24-volume "The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud." So he writes with authority in the brief introductory note to this volume when he says Freud always intended the two sets of "Introductory Lectures" he published first in 1917 and then in 1933 to be thought of as a single series. This Norton publication, "The Complete Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis," published in 1966, is the first time they were brought together. The works were designed for laypeople, not for professionals, and they provide overviews of Freud’s theories of dreams, neuroses, and what, by now, we could consider the basics of psychoanalysis, in almost conversational language. However, sixteen years separated the delivery and publication of the first set of lectures from the second set, and in the meantime Freud began to rethink some of those theories. He uses the lectures in the second set to revise and supplement the original lectures as well as introduce new ideas. Writing in "The Archives of General Psychiatry" (published by the American Medical Association), when the book first came out, a critic found Strachey’s translation to be "impeccable" and that the lectures were "a delight to read and reread." Our copy is a first edition, first printing in excellent condition. With the exception of a small bit of writing in pencil by an earlier seller in the upper corner of the front free endpaper, and a short note written in ink by a previous owner on the page on the reverse of the colophon in the back, there are no marks or tears in the interior or on the covers. The binding is tight and straight. The book is bound in black cloth, with no lettering or decoration on the boards, but gold stamped lettering and braid decoration stamped in gold on the spine; this is completely unworn and bright. There is very light bumping on the bottom corners and very slight fading from age all around the top edge of the binding. As for the dust jacket, now in protective mylar, it shows some soiling and wear along the edges and folds. There is a quarter-inch closed tear at the bottom edge of the back and a half-inch chip at the fold where the front panel becomes the spine panel. The front flap is clipped at the bottom but, interestingly, the price at the top is NOT clipped. Photos are forthcoming or available upon request.…