Editorial Overview

It is my first, sad task as the new Editor of the Bulletin to record the loss of DOROTHY BURLINGHAM who died peacefully on 20 November 1979, at the age of 88. As most of our readers will know, Mrs Burlingham was a central figure in the Hampstead Clinic from its inception and a very close friend and collaborator of Miss Anna Freud. Her contribution over the last 25 years to the Clinic's research activities and her work in furthering the understanding of child development has been considerable. The Editorial Committee therefore felt it to be appropriate and fitting to devote an entire issue of the Bulletin to the life and work of Dorothy Burlingham, drawing upon tributes paid to her at the funeral service last November and on appreciations of various aspects of her work, both in Vienna and London, which formed part of a Memorial Meeting at the Hampstead Clinic in February. These will make up the contents of Part 2 of this year's volume.

The present issue is something of a ‘new beginning’, reflected not only in the new cover but also in the change in the method of production to offset printing. This change should ensure the prompt and regular appearance of the Bulletin at quarterly intervals.

A further innovation is this introductory Editorial Overview. Its main purpose is to provide a context in which the various contributions may be understood. For example, since it is our policy to publish accounts of past and present work carried out at the Clinic, we felt that our readers would appreciate some guidance as to which contributions come from our archives and which derive from current research and other work.

The first contribution in this issue, by Rose Edgcumbe, comes from our archives and dates from 1967. It is the eighth in our series of Profiles and the third Terminal Profile to be published. It was written by the child's second therapist at the end of an analysis which lasted some three years. The use of the Profile Schema at the termination of treatment permits a c