Letter from Sigmund Freud to Ernest Jones, January 28, 1921

28 January 1921
Vienna, IX. Berggasse 19

Dear Jones,

This letter is concerned only with formal interests, neither important nor in itself interesting.

Lissa & Kann are rather fertile in mistakes and confusions these last times, giving false names (Jones instead of Young) stating twice a single payment etc. I use this opportunity in order to renew my proposal that we should not use both of us the same account at their bank. It may become the source of endless and useless muddle. I think we wait until we get the Abrechnung [statement of account] for 1920 and then we separate.

You could put your money on the account of—let me say—Dr. Katherine Jones and leave your name to me. Or if you won't, I will have my [items]1 posts put out and transferred to the account of Dr. v. Ophuijsen (or Emden) who, I have no doubt will lend me their names. You know why I need such a “cover”. I want to bring money aside, which does not come into the inheritance and will be paid to my wife on her application. Any friend likely to survive me and sure not to rob my widow will do for this, my own name would not.—

Now some news of your patients. Dr. Young was a charming companion in analysis, and a very interesting case, we made the most startling discoveries viribus unitis [man to man] and he felt undoubtedly relieved as shown by his behaviour when his lady-friend visited him in Vienna. Unfortunately—but perhaps his resistance had more to do with the change than he confessed—he was called to go to Innsbruck on an official errand some days ago, and so he broke off; he halted where another man perhaps would have [followed]2 hunted down the chance.

Cpt., now Major, Daly has just taken leave from me. His analysis, tedious in its details, was not so bad after all. He got down to the deepest layer of his deposits and grasped his passive attitude to his father, that is the wish to be castrated. His mind is still set on practising analysis himself after having served his term in India. He may become quali