First English Edition The Interpretation of Dreams 1913 Sigmund Freud Cloth HC

The Macmillan Company, 1913. First English language edition, U.S. issue, second state cloth bound hardcover of The Interpretation of Dreams by Prof. Sigmund Freud, LL.D. Authorized translation of the third German language edition by A.A. Brill. Octavo. [4], v-xiii, [1], 1-510, [2] p.

Marking Freud's first appearance in the English language, this book was printed in England and issued simultaneously in the U.K. by George Allen & Company and in America by The Macmillan Company. The first Macmillan state of this book shows the printer on the back of the title page and used vertical cloth grain. After about 200-250 U.K. copies were made, the printer line was removed from the back of the American issue title page, and the cloth grain changed to horizontal. The printer line remained in a colophon to page 510, which is present in all states.

A bookseller label inside the back cover indicates this copy was originally sold by Brentano's Booksellers & Stationers in New York, one of the largest and most reputable booksellers of the day with an iconic flagship store on Fifth Avenue. A bookseller pencil marking to the front endpaper of "net | 4x | 6/13" further suggests an acquisition date of June 1913, which would be consistent with production and distribution timeframes. The original sticker price for the book was $4, as noted in C. Macfie Campbell's September 1913 review in Science, Vol. 38, No. 975.

This book's previous owner recalls purchasing it in the 1950s, during his high school years, from the bookseller Worden Gilboy at his bookstore in a suburb of Rochester, New York. Worden was an Anglophile in mannerisms and dress, although his online genealogy reveals he was a native New Yorker.

Freud's English language debut of The Interpretation of Dreams solidified his reputation and ideas in the psychological world. He had come a long way, with the title's first German language edition taking 8 years to sell its run of just 600 copies. Freud's reputation not withstanding, early printings of this edition included a slip pasted to the front endpaper stating: "Publishers' Note: The sale of this book is limited to Members of the Medical, Scholastic, Legal, and Clerical professions." This was a common way of granting the author immunity from prosecution of what was seen as indecent material at the time. The restricted sales of such books were easily circumvented, as the slip appears to have been torn out of this copy, with the remnant of its left edge found to the endpaper at the inner hinge.

Contemporaneous reviews of Freud's work celebrate the breakthrough of his analysis while noting a deep schism between his critics and followers. In the aforementioned Science review, Macfie dismisses such detractors by concluding that "Any person who has had to deal seriously with the problems of the psycho-neuroses and of the disordered mind [...] will look upon this book as a serious contribution to a most important field." Another September 1913 review in The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, Vol. 10, No. 20 by F.L. Wells bemoans A.A. Brill's translation as lacking in "the literary excellence of the original." Ouch. Only a German speaker can debate this claim.

Good condition. Binding slightly loose with sturdy boards, square page block and crisp, clean interior pages. Some soiling and worn corners to the cloth covering. Half-inch splitting to the cloth front cover top hinge. Bookseller markings and label inside the covers. Remnant of publisher's restricted sales slip to the front endpaper at the inner hinge. One folded page corner to page 15. No dust jacket as issued. An overall good copy of an important book.

Please note, this book will require a signature on delivery. It will ship securely, double boxed, and with insurance and tracking.