Acknowledgements

This book is the outcome of a long labour during the course of which there have been many helpmates, of whom I shall single out only a few; my psychoanalytic training began with Hanna Segal, to whom I am indebted for much more than this book; her strong commitment to psychoanalytic enquiry was an inspiration. I am also grateful to my supervisors, in particular the late Herbert Rosenfeld, and subsequently my many enriching discusssions with Wilfred Bion.

More recently, I have already thanked Franco De Masi, Paola Capozzi, Dino Lanzara and Roberto Basile for their part in the Italian book, out of which this project grew. I am again hugely grateful to Franco for encouraging me and others to undertake this English edition. I would like to thank the Melanie Klein Trust for supporting the translations from Italian, and Philip Slotkin for his very able translations.

Gigliola Fornari Spoto has undertaken the editorial task and I am grateful for her considerable effort and her much valued help, particularly as this came at a time when she had many other pressing concerns. And the General Editor, Dana Birksted-Breen, too, who has been untiringly helpful in a most thoughtful and creative way.

I was pleased that the British Museum allowed us to use the Rembrandt drawing of ‘The child being taught to walk’ for the cover, and thanks to the IJPA (Chapters 2, 3, 5 and 6), EPF (Chapter 1), Karnac (Chapter 7) and Centro Milanese di Psicoanalisi Cesare Musatti (Chapters 9, 10 and 11) for permission to publish. At Routledge, Claire Lipscomb and Kate Hawes have been hugely obliging and helpful.

Closer to home, Daniel Pick has always encouraged me and been ever willing to provide generous help. Above all, this book would not have been brought together without the tolerance and support in countless different ways – scientifically and personally – of my wife, Irma Brenman Pick, and this book is dedicated to her.