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I have been a subscriber to IJP, if my memory serves me well, for at least thirty years. A row of its volumes was magnificently displayed on my analyst’s bookshelf. To me they were the expression of prestige and belonging to an elite group. My memory, entirely personal and subjective, was of an aristocratic journal, authoritative but also very “British” and very “Establishment”. It is incredible how it has changed over time. Today, if we pick up any issue of the IJP we immediately realize that it has become a true home for analysts from all parts of the world and of any theoretical orientation, not only because of the great number of people involved in the various editing phases and the invaluable translations of the best articles featured in the various Annuals, but also for the scope and wide variety of its entries. This change has occurred without compromising the journal’s prestige, which has, if anything, increased, thanks to recent directors, in particular Dana Birksted-Breen, who has recently finished her term.
As the subtitle indicates, Translation/Transformation, edited by Dana Birksted-Breen herself, celebrates 100 years of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. Naturally, the anniversary is of significance to the world of psychoanalysis. We know that celebratory rites are important for group identity, but this could have been a lacklustre volume, blandly celebrative, of the kind that attracts an indifferent eye, and immediately dismissed. This is not the case for this book. The twelve essays, several of which have already appeared in the journal and are collected into two sections, are interesting, easy to read and thought-provoking, and also offer the occasion to assess the current state of art.
The book is divided into two parts. The first section contains writings of an eminently historic character: on Freud’s passion for archaeology (Heinz and Carina Weiss), the history of the foundation of the IJP (Georg Bruns), the English translation of Freud’s