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20 August 1920
The Plat, Elsted
Dear Professor,
We have just arrived here, where I shall be until leaving for Holland, from a tour round Warwickshire, Devonshire, etc., a main object of which, successfully achieved, was to show my wife and make her familiar with the characteristic landscapes and ancient buildings of South England. I wish we knew if there was any hope of seeing you here after the Congress; it would be an enormous pleasure.
I shall be very glad to have your comments on the Bernays translation and will use them for ours. I will bring with me two books on Mass psychology to Holland. I have just read the proofs of your Jenseits d. L.,1 with mixed feelings—deep interest at the contents, and apprehension at the difficulty of translating it, which Rank of course expects me to do on the spot. Of the two main ideas, one is quite clear to me: the tendency of instincts to repeat an old situation and if possible restore an equilibrium (by the way, how would you translate Wiederholungszwang?).2 The second idea, that this is independent of the Lustprinzip, I have so far only imperfectly digested.
[If you are correcting the proofs you might note the following:]3