Letter from Ernest Jones to Sigmund Freud, May 8, 1921

8 May 1921
Vienna, IX. Berggasse 19

Dear Jones,

The news of your sickness affected all of us deeply. I could not help feeling that you had no right to fall sick as we could not miss you nor replace you by another. The first sign of your recovery came in the shape of an English journal of art, demonstrating one Moses who clutched his beard with his hand, a subject which could have interested no other man in the United Kingdom but you. You know—a contribution to Rank's myths of the birth of heroes1—that this Moses is an illegitimate child of mine, not acknowledged by his begetter; should I be right after all?2

On May 6th Eitingon was here in Vienna and presented me a bronce bust of a person very well known and yet not often seen by me by a young Berlin sculptor Königsberger. I had given him some sittings in July last, believing in a naive way that E. wanted the [portrait]3 effigy for himself and not suspecting that it should become my house-mate as I was the possessor of the original. Yet here it is. Besides I got flowers, sweets, books, telegrams etc. to provoke the envy of a primadonna. I am glad you had no part in it and hope your example will be followed by the others if more returns of the day are unavoidable. The emphasizing of my birthday warns me how old I have become and by getting presents one is hopelessly thrown back into the attitude of a child. Yet the two go well together.

The Verlag is doing good work in German books, while the English Press still goes at a very slow pace. Some sheets of my Massenpsych & Ich-Analyse have been printed, I expect the whole thing to come out in a few weeks more. Your translation (treatment of the neuroses) is the next book to appear.4 I am doing too much work and feel tired accordingly. From Oct. next I may restrict the number of my cases to 6 or 7 instead of 9.

As you do not mention wife and daughter I trust they are all right.

With kind love to all three of you

Yours

Freud