The Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud

Reviews / Votes

By integrating decades of critique, defense, and historical and interdisciplinary context, Solms goes a long way to creating a collection for an era of critical and heterodox readings of Freud, one that invites a critical conversation with a far more historically and academically situated Freud. * Psychoanalytic Psychology * The titanic effort by Mark Solms to publish the Revised Standard Edition of Freud's writings is one of the most important scholarly works in the last 30 years, and not only in the field of psychoanalysis. The new papers by Freud that Solms has added (both translated and edited by him) make it possible to understand much better than before the continuity between Freud's work as a neuroscientist and as the discoverer of psychoanalysis. Solms's attempt to correct (as far as possible) the mistakes and misinterpretations in Strachey's translations, together with the flexibility provided by his new glossary of technical terms, makes the RSE the new tool for understanding Freud in the 21st century. -- Riccardo Steiner, Distinguished Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society, London Many years of meticulous scholarship, careful consultation with others, daunting decision-making, and passionate attention to Freud's thought and prose have come to fruition in Mark Solms' revision of James Strachey's translation of the Standard Edition. The result: a fatter, fitter Freud-with expanded introductions, updated footnotes, and a bibliography four times the size of the old one-a Freud for generations to come. -- Siri Hustvedt, PhD, Weil Cornell Medical College; author The task of a Revised Edition is reanimation and creative repetition-the values that psychoanalysis itself promotes. How to stay true to Freud, to Strachey, and at the same time open our eyes to the human condition? The editorial decisions here are bold, courageous, thoughtful, and well-explained. This is remembering in the deepest sense. -- Jonathan Lear, professor, Committee on Social Thought, The University of Chicago Over the past 30 years Professor Mark Solms has undertaken the mammoth task of revising Freud's oeuvre with impressive scholarship. This much-awaited Revised Standard Edition of Freud's complete works will be an indispensable tool for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, neurologists, and philosophers, as well as those working in the humanities, and anyone who wishes to immerse themselves in the writings of this revolutionary thinker and founder of psychoanalysis. -- Rosine Jozef Perelberg, Distinguished Fellow and past president, British Psychoanalytical Society Extending and, on many fronts, exceeding the earlier work of Freud translators (e.g., James & Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson, Joan Riviere), Freud biographers (e.g., Ernest Jones, Peter Gay), and Freud scholars (e.g., Kurt Eissler, Harold Blum, and Norman Kiell), Mark Solms has produced a revised version of Freud's majestic Standard Edition. Besides 'silent corrections' of minor lexical and syntactical slip-ups, Solms' version rectifies omissions, corrects prior mis-readings, provides richer context to many of Freud's papers, clarifies hazy collaborations, and recovers from the gluttonous dustbin of history certain significant deleted portions of Freud's text. Solms' proposals frequently emanate from his retrieval and review of Freud's original, often hand-written, manuscripts in German. The effort has the stamp of meticulous scholarship and unfailing, tender devotion to truth. The work Solms offers us is a truly remarkable addition to our professional literature and is bound to become memorable! -- Salman Akhtar, MD, professor of psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College; training and supervising analyst, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia The RSE is a work of immense historical, theoretical, clinical, and cultural value to scholars, practitioners, students, and the general public. Solms has meticulously reviewed SE language for errors, set in context complex meanings of technical terms, and provided end notes that expand and update the understanding of original texts. This monumental editorial revision brilliantly illuminates the roots and meanings of Freud's thinking. -- Harriet L. Wolfe, president, International Psychoanalytical Association; clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, University of California San Francisco