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The terms “remarkable” and “unique” in book reviews have been devalued by overuse. They might seem particularly inappropriate for yet another version of a book that has already seen multiple previous editions. Sterling's “Illustrated Edition” of Freud's “The Interpretation of Dreams,” however, offers so much more than Freud's original text (undeniably unique and remarkable in its own right) plus a few pictures.
On initially flicking though this beautifully presented tome, the attention of the reader (viewer?) is immediately drawn to the many full-page paintings. These are described in the Introduction, without exaggeration, as “gorgeously evocative, dream inspired artwork” by Dali, Picasso, Zurn, Magritte, Kahlo, Ernst and many others. Furthermore, the seven chapters are interspersed with informative, sympathetic and highly readable (and therefore enjoyable) sections of a biography of Freud. These, too, are evocatively illustrated, with numerous, well chosen photographs. Then there are the extracts from the writings, on dreams, of “neo-Freudians” Carl Jung, Karen Horney, Erik Erikson, Juliet Mitchell and Jacques Lacan.
If all that was not enough, the book includes an eight page Introduction by a “Freud scholar,” who has also contributed 16 mini-essays commenting on the main text, always informatively, often critically, occasionally provocatively. These are playfully “hidden” inside the paintings.
Serious academics might find all this a bit “too much.” Surely the artwork, with its varying degrees of obvious relevance (if any) to the