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In his classic study of Schreber's Memoirs,1 Freud states: 'In working upon the case of Schreber I have had a policy of restraint … it will not be possible to define the limits of justifiable interpretation until … the subject has become more familiar'.
As almost forty years have elapsed since Freud's famous interpretation of the case (and nearly half a century since the publication of the Denkwürdigkeiten), the subject has indeed become more familiar, and an attempt is made here to add a few observations to the classic text. Though preliminary in nature and hardly of major importance in themselves, they may contribute in one way or another to the clarification of some obscure points in the Denkwürdigkeiten as well as in the English version of Freud's original text.
Freud opens his presentation of the case with Schreber's own words: 'I have suffered twice from nervous disorders and each time as a result of mental overstrain'. In this opening statement of the patient, it seems to me that perhaps not the full weight of consideration has been given to the onset of both illnesses nor to the particular circumstances under which they developed.2 Although comparatively little is known about