FREUD, Sigmund (1856-1939). Autograph letter signed (‘Freud’) to Dr [Rudolf] Brun, 9 Berggasse, Vienna, 18 March 1936, two pages, folio (286 x 227mm), (four punch holes to left margin, short tears to horizontal fold, minor browning and wear to right margin); envelope; with a typed letter signed by Anna Freud to Brun, 6 March 1936, written on her father’s behalf; also a transcription and another related letter. Provenance: by descent from the recipient.

ON THE WORTHLESSNESS OF HIS EARLY PUBLISHED PAPERS. Responding to an academic enquiry about his early ‘organic’ work, Freud confesses himself ‘alarmed by the respect you seem to accord them’, as he himself is aware that most of them are worth little, and some nothing at all (‘bin aber erschreckt durch die Würdigung, die Sie denselben zu schenken scheinen. Denn ich weiß, die meisten von ihnen taugen wenig, einige aber gar nichts’). He goes on to specify which works he means, ‘naturally with the wish not to make this damning verdict too widely known’: he begins with a paper on the lobes (‘Lappenorgane’) of eels, which he punningly qualifies as ‘läppisch’ (foolish), offering the excuse that he was only 20 at the time, and his teacher was sufficiently irresponsible not to proof-read it. He goes on to cite papers on the nervous elements of river crabs, while later papers on the anatomy of the brain were not written with the necessary care: he ruefully reflects that in view of his later rigour, he has often wondered how he could have been so careless at the beginning (‘Angesichts meiner späteren Strenge habe ich mich oft verwundert, wie ich anfangs so leichtfertig sein konnte’). The letter closes with a feeling that he still owes his correspondent apologies. Anna Freud’s letter presages her father’s, warning that his early neurological publications are of ‘very little value. He feels you will be disappointed if you concern yourself with them’.

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