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Over the years, a wide variety of books have been dealing with Freud's work from a number of different points of view. The most recent study is by Henri-Frédéric Ellenberger, who calls his work The Discovery of the Unconscious. 20 Ellenberger adds a subtitle: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry. If I understand him correctly, he is saying that the discovery of the unconscious is the key element in the rise and development of dynamic psychiatry. I can best give some idea of the feel and point to this 950-page book by saying that the chapter on Freud, 153 pages—the largest in the book—contains 543 footnotes comprising 20 pages.
In his Introduction Ellenberger describes his method:
[Keep] a rigorously impartial outlook and [abstain] from any kind of polemics. The relevant methodology can be summed up in four principles: (1) Never take anything for granted. (2) Check everything. (3) Replace everything in its context. (4) Draw a sharp line of distinction between the facts and the interpretation of the facts.20a
Furthermore,
The development of each system [e.g., Janet, Freud, and Jung] had to be followed in chronological order.20b
And he goes on to say, very sensibly, that the study of Freud had to start with his neuroanatomical writings. On an earlier occasion, Ellenberger described in exact and concrete detail how he goes about writing history. He says he would not describe eye color, for example, without checking against a passport.71
I wish to examine a very small section of Ellenberger's book20c—a