Editorial

I consider it a great honour to have been elected the new editor of the Journal of Analytical Psychology and I am very aware of the responsibility that has been entrusted to me. For I follow three persons, Michael Fordham, Alfred Plaut and Judith Hubback, whose inspiration, acumen, enthusiasm, selfless devotion and professional competence has unquestioningly been quite outstanding. They have brought to the production of the Journal an enormous amount of skill: the capacity for discrimination and judgment as regards the content and literary form of the papers; encouragement as well as tact in their dealings with the authors; and intuitive insight which has enabled them to sense the needs of the readers as well as the potential developments that are, one hopes, at any time germinating within the science and the art of analytical psychology. Nor must one forget that an editor has also to handle all the practical matters involved in publishing a journal, which means dealing with the publishers, the printers, the bookshops and their sales managers, publicity costs and the many other down-to-earth matters.

Though I cannot quite save myself from feeling daunted, I regard it as possibly a propitious sign that the timing of my taking on the editorship of the Journal coincides with the publication of one whole number devoted to a survey, discussion and assessment of the work of Michael Fordham, its very founder.

In order to do justice to such an enterprise it was decided early on that for this particular issue four of us would act as editors: Corinna Peterson, who brings to the Journal and to me her valuable experience of having been for over a year the associate editor to Judith Hubback; Kenneth Lambert, whose knowledge and understanding of Michael Fordham's contributions in particular and of analytical psychology in general is exceptional; Judith Hubback, the outgoing editor of the Journal, whose contribution to its success has earned her Council's grateful recognition by con