Freud, Fliess, and the Lost Dream

In December of 1928, Freud, a man of seventy-two, received a letter from Ida Fliess shortly after the death of her husband:1

You perhaps have in your possession letters from Wilhelm addressed to you before your relations became clouded. They probably were not destroyed, although they have lost their meaning for you. If that is the case, would you be good enough and trusting enough, dear professor, to place them in my hands? For I am the person who of all people has the deepest interest in them. I want them for no other purpose, I assure you. If this is not possible, could you at least lend them to me for a short time?.

Freud responded:

I hasten to answer your letter, although I cannot at present communicate anything decisive with regard to fulfilling your request. My memory tells me that I destroyed the greater part of the correspondence at some period after 1904. But the possibility remains that a select number of letters were preserved and might turn up after a careful search of the rooms in which I have lived for the past thirty-seven years. I beg you, therefore, to allow me time over Christmas. Whatever I find will be at your disposal, unconditionally. If I do not find anything you will have to assume that nothing escaped the

1. The originals, two letters from Ida Fliess to Freud and two from Freud to Ida Fliess, are in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem. The translations given here are to be found in Masson's 1985 edition of Freud's letters to Fliess.

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destruction. Naturally I would be happy to learn that my letters to your husband, for so many years my close friend, have found a fate that will assure their protection against any further use… (Ibid.).

To her credit, Ida Fliess chose to ignore Freud's suggestion that she destroy his letters to her husband. Several days later Freud wrote again:

I have found nothing so far and am very much inclined to presume that the entire correspondence has been destroyed. But since I have not found oth