The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud: Translated from the German under the General Editorship of James Strachey, in collaboration with Anna Freud, assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson.

Vol. IV (1900) The Interpretation of Dreams (First Part).

Vol. V (1900–1901) The Interpretation of Dreams (Second Part) and On Dreams.

(London: Hogarth Press, 1953. Pp. xxxii & 338; vi & 339–751. £36 per set of 24 vols.; sold only in sets.)

The Interpretation of Dreams is the corner-stone of psycho-analysis. It is the book that Freud himself regarded as his most important work and of which he wrote 'Insight such as this falls to one's lot but once in a lifetime'. It is, therefore, wholly appropriate that these two volumes should be the first to appear in the new Standard Edition of the works of Freud in English. James Strachey's translation is worthy of the original and supplies a long-felt need for a rendering that could be considered definitive.

In addition to the excellent translation, this edition has other special features that can only be listed here. As James Strachey says in his Editor's Introduction, it is based on the 1930 German edition, but 'An effort has been made to indicate, with dates, every alteration of substance introduced into the book since its first issue'. All Freud's Prefaces to successive editions are included. The bibliographies have been recast and grouped into two; the first, arranged as an Author Index, lists every work referred to in text or footnotes; the second contains all the pre-1900 German works (on Dreams) not actually quoted by Freud. There are numerous annotations, references, and cross-references which will be of value alike to students and to more advanced readers. The concise Editor's Introduction also provides useful bibliographical and historical summaries. The later paper 'On Dreams' is in its right place following the major work, and the Index of Dreams and General Index have been compiled with the greatest care. In short, this edition succeeds in giving appropriate treatment to a classic. A sample comparison of Chapter VII, 'The Psychology of the Dream', generally accounted the most difficult in the book, will