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As the years have passed since the death in 1939 of Sigmund Freud, and the biographies, autobiographies and correspondence of various notable personages in the psychoanalytic movement have made their appearance, an ever deepening understanding of this field of scientific thought has been made possible. Surely the Freud/Jung correspondence is one of the most significant and informative of these contributions. Of all the pieces of psychoanalytic history, few seem to this reviewer more interesting and gripping, more surprising, or more productive of new insights into the course of psychoanalytic events.
In these six years of active and close collaboration and friendship between two dedicated and resourceful men, carefully chronicled in a prolific correspondence, we find a wealth of information not hitherto accessible. At the outset there is the youthful Jung drawn to the mature Freud, apparently primarily to get help in the understanding of dreams. There was no other truly adequate source for this information. Freud is seen as attracted to the promising, zealous and engaging young man and indubitably forming a strong bond of affection for him. Indeed, he came to designate Jung as his “adopted son”, “crown prince” and the future leader of the psychoanalytic “cause.” Freud was not only impressed by the younger man's ability; he had other reasons for pursuing this attachment. Antisemitic Vienna had given him much reason to believe that a Christian leader would bring a readier consideration of his work. The Freud who was so experienced at leading men into close relationships of an intimate nature, skillfully attracted Jung. He did it, however, with all the lessons he had learned from his friendships with Breuer and Fliess; his self-analysis, which had released him from his pathologic dependence on Fliess, a truly monumental achievement, gave him the insight to conduct the relationship with Jung in a gentlemanly fashion and to sustain the final rupture without any features o