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When he was President of the International Psycho-Analytical Association, Robert Wallerstein proposed that, despite the diversity of theories, psychoanalysis has a common ground, a common clinical base on which all can stand; this became the theme of the Congress held in Rome in 1991. The common ground is also our common
history, and Wallerstein may have also wanted to elucidate and perhaps create a common ground by proposing, together with Joseph Sandler, a unique series of monographs to be published in each of the official languages (English, French, German, and Spanish) and distributed to all members of the International Psycho-Analytical Association. Under the chairmanship of Joseph Sandler, the Publication Committee proposed a format which would facilitate the exposure to Freud's classical papers and the views of eminent contemporary psychoanalysts from diverse theoretical positions and geographical locations.
Sandler and his committee decided that each monograph would begin with one of Freud's classic papers. Distinguished psychoanalytic teachers would be asked to write an essay as if they were conducting a seminar on Freud's paper. The purpose would be didactic, and the form would facilitate expression of the unique views of the teacher. The first monograph was published in 1987 to coincide with the Montreal Congress, and, as the theme of the 35th Congress of the IPA was Freud's "Analysis Terminable and Interminable Fifty Years Later," it was appropriate to use Freud's 1937 paper as the focus for the first monograph. Subsequently, Yale University Press undertook the publication of the series, now entitled, Contemporary Freud: Turning Points and Critical Issues. The first monograph was published by Yale in 1991, the same year as the second book in the series, Freud's "On Narcissism: An Introduction."1
Since the format is unique, the intention explicitly didactic, and the implicit goal unity through exposure to the diversity of views and approaches, th