The Freud Collection

The papers relate primarily to Sigmund Freud, the major part of the collection being Freud's voluminous correspondence, both official and medical or scientific in nature, as well as significant amounts of private letters. Primary correspondents include: Freud's wife Martha ne Bernays, as well as several of his children, and his sister Marie Freud, his friends, colleagues and/or disciples such as Max Eitington, Carl Jung, Oskar Pfister, and Otto Rank. The collection is therefore significantly useful for tracing out developments not only in Freud's public and private lives, such as his relations with his colleagues, but also developments in his scientific approach as he elaborated his theories of psychoanalysis. Also included in the collection is the correspondence that Ernst and Lucie Freud maintained with James and Tania Stern, who were the translators of the Letters of Sigmund Freud. The collection also comprises material relating to the history of the Sigmund Freud Worldwide Copyrights, which Freud bequeathed to his grandchildren as well as proofs of publications, such as the edited letters of Sigmund Freud to various correspondents. Among Anna Freud's papers, the principal correspondents are Eva Rosenfeld and Masud Khan.

The collection comprises mainly copies of letters to and from Sigmund Freud (b. 1856 - d. 1939). Sigmund Freud's career can be summarized in brief as follows: Freud lived in Vienna from the age of four until 1938, just one year before his death. In 1873 Freud entered the University of Vienna medical school. Freud was primarily interested in science but eventually specialized in neurology. His future area of specialization was already evident in the work he did at the Institute of Physiology under Ernst Brucke. Freud obtained his doctorate in medicine in 1881. He then went on to study in Paris under the French neurologist, Jean-Martin Charcot. In 1886 Freud returned to Vienna and opened a private practice specializing in nervous and brain disorders. He married Martha Bernays (b. 1861 d. 1951) in September 1886. In 1900 he published The Interpretation of Dreams, which established Freud's reputation as a psychoanalyst, and followed this up in 1901 with The Psychopathology of Everyday Life. Freud was appointed professor at the University of Vienna in 1902. In 1905 he published Three Essays on Sexuality. Sigmund and Martha Freud had six children: Mathilde (b. 1887-d. 1978), Martin (b. 1889- d. 1967), Oliver (b. 1892- d. 1970), Ernst (b. 1892-d. 1970), Sophie (b. 1893-d. 1920), and Anna (b. 1895-d. 1982). On June 4, 1938, after Germany annexed Austria Freud, having been persuaded to emigrate, left Vienna for London. He died of cancer on September 23, 1939.

This collection of Freud documents was assembled in a fairly random way over several decades and serves principally as a copyrights archive. Ernst Freud was largely responsible for building up the collection. Ernst Freud left Austria in 1934, settling in London where, while practicing architecture, he devoted considerable time and energy to wholeheartedly promoting knowledge of his father's work. When building up the collection Ernst kept copies of all his father's letters that came into his hands. Copies of letters to Freud were also made. Also included in the Freud collection are letters by Freud's youngest child, Anna who is generally regarded as having been Freud's favorite child. Anna Freud carved out her own career in psychoanalysis and eventually became the founder of child psychoanalysis.

When Ernst Freud's health began to fail the administration of the collection fell to the literary agent Mark Paterson, who had met Ernst Freud in the mid-sixties. The Freud Collection thereby entered the offices of Mark Paterson and Associates and in 1998 was transferred from their Wivenhoe offices to the Special Collections Room of the Albert Sloman Library.

• X10: Correspondence Sigmund Freud to Karl Abraham, 1907-14
• X40: Correspondence Sigmund Freud to Marie Mitzi- Freud, Max and/or Sophie Halberstadt
• X41: Material for the standard edition supplied by Angela Harris - German texts
• X 44: Freud picture biography - final draft English edition including corrections
• X45: Freud/Binswanger, Ludwig (1908-1938) - Freud Photocopies and German typescript and Binswanger typescript
• X46: Freud-Binswanger, ed. By Fichtner
• X 50-51: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Max and/or Mirra Eitington (1906-23)
• X68: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Lucie /Ernst Freud and other family members
• X 70 (10 boxes): Offprints of works by Sigmund Freud
• X90-1: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Eduard Silberstein (1871-1928)
• X 100-01: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and CG Jung (1908-1913)
• X120-1: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Oskar Pfister (1909-39)
• X126-7: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Otto Rank (1911-26)
• X150: Correspondence between Anna Freud and Eva Rosenfeld (1924-75)
• X160: Correspondence between Sigmund/Anna Freud and Stefan Zweng (1920-39)
• X170-1: Pre-analytical works, including the Stengl Draft (Volume 1)
• X600: Brautbriefe - Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, 1882-83
• X604: Brautbriefe - Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, January to April 1884
• X605: Brautbriefe - Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, May to December 1884
• X606: Brautbriefe - Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, January to May 1885
• X607: Brautbriefe - Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, June to December 1885
• X608: Brautbriefe - Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, January to March 1886
• X609: Brautbriefe - Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, April to October 1886, and Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays 10 May 1908
• X610: Pre-analytical works - copy of material in X170 - Volume I
• X611: Pre-analytical works - Volume II
• X612: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Emil Fluss (1870s)
• X613 (2 boxes): Correspondence between Ernst/Lucie Freud and James/Tania Stern
• X614.1 to X614.5: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Ernest Jones (1908-39) - many in English, by Freud
• X617: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Nikolai Ozipoff (or Ozipov) - (1921-29)
• X620: Freud-Ferenczi-Giampieri sample
• X626: Freud-Ferenczi letters, final versions, volume 1
• X630: Correspondence between Anna Freud and Masud Khan (1951-82)
• X631.1: Correspondence from publishers, chiefly Hogarth Press
• X631.2: Correspondence from publishers, chiefly Hogarth Press
• X632: Papers acquired from Angela Harris Estate, 1996 - material from an unlabelled file containing mostly correspondence with Fisher Verlag 1964-67
• X633.0-6: Harris papers - uncatalogued
• X633.7-11: Harris papers - uncatalogued
• X634-37: Harris papers - uncatalogued
• X639: Harris papers - uncatalogued
• X642: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Eduardo Weiss (1919-36)
• X646: Eightieth-birthday congratulations to Sigmund Freud, senders A-K
• X647: Eightieth-birthday congratulations to Sigmund Freud, senders L-Z
• X670: Family tree - genealogy
• X671: Copies of correspondence and postcards between various family members
• X672: Correspondence between Anna Freud and Ernst Lux Burlingham (1918-73)
• X680: Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Arnold Zweig (1924-39)
• X681: Sigmund Freud rights worldwide - clarification attempt 1978-79
• X690: Brautbriefe, Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, January to December 1884 (working copy of 1960)
• X691: Brautbriefe, Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, 1885 (working copy of 1960)
• X692: Brautbriefe, Sigmund Freud to Martha Bernays, 1886 (working copy of 1960)
• X800: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S., 1908-10 (pp. 1-243)
• X801: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S., 1911-13 (pp. 244-592)
• X802: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S., 1813-14 (pp. 593-922)
• X803: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S., 1915-20 (pp. 923-1213)
• X804: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S., 1921-22 (pp. 1214-1522)
• X805: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S., 1923-25 (pp. 1523-1784)
• X806: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S., 1932-39 (pp. 2088-2443)
• X807: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S., 1932-39 (pp. 2088-2443)
• X808: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S.
• X809: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S., Andrew Paskauskas' two versions of the introduction for The Complete Correspondence of Sigmund Freud an Ernest Jones 1908-39
• X810: Sigmund Freud / Jones, T.S. correspondence ed by A. Paskauskas, HUP proofs October 1992
• X988-9: Harris papers
• X991-7: Harris papers
• X998.1: Harris papers
• X998.2: Harris papers
• Y1-140: Small correspondences
• Y155-490: Small correspondences
• Five volumes of Böhlau proofs: Freud-Ferenczi including Volume I/2; Volume II/1 - December 1995; Volume II/2 - 1/1996; Freud-Ferenczi, Volume II edited text; Freud-Ferenczi, Volume II edited text - spare copy
• File: Trume in Folklore
• Ms Box 1: Freud manuscripts 1885-1911
• Ms Box 2: Freud manuscripts 1912-14
• Ms Box 3: Freud manuscripts 1915-18
• Ms Box 4: Freud manuscripts, introductory lectures on Psychoanalysis (1916-17)
• Ms Box 5: Freud manuscripts 1919-24
• Ms Box 6: Freud manuscripts 1925-32
• Ms Box 7: Freud manuscripts (no dates given)
• Ms Box 8: Freud manuscripts 1939-41
• Ms Box 9: Freud manuscripts - oddments
• Ms Box 10: Freud manuscripts, 1913 continued
• 1 Box - Freud-Ferenczi unedited transcription, 1908-19
• 7 boxes of Harris papers
• Lucie Freud - photos and negatives, 1960s
• Correspondence Eitington to Freud to Eitington, spare copy only, 1925-29
• Files - Mijolla - saying of Freud - mots de Freud
• Freud-Ferenczi correspondence, translated by Meyer-Palmedo

By written application to either the Librarian or Deputy Librarian. A letter of introduction may be required and prospective users will be obliged to sign an undertaking outlining the terms and conditions of access to the research materials.

Mark Paterson and Associates.

This record was compiled by David Borg-Muscat, UK Data Archive, using entries from:

Albert Sloman Library (2000) A Note on Special Collections, (University of Essex: Albert Sloman Library), p. 5.

Record entered by Nadeem Ahmad of Qualidata, UK Data Archive, University of Essex.

A record for all materials in the Special Collection is available via the Albert Sloman Library, Special Collections web page.

No part of the Special Collections material may be reproduced, published, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Albert Sloman Library. This may be obtained by application to the Librarian or Deputy Librarian.

In consultation with academic colleagues, the library special collections acquisitions staff evaluate collections by assessing their relevance to the teaching and research interests of the University.

The 'Sigmund Freud Collection' was held by the literary agency Mark Paterson and Associates until 1998, when it was then deposited with the Special Collections, Albert Sloman Library.

It is unlikely that the collection will be added to, but the possibility should not be ruled out entirely.

University of Essex: Albert Sloman Library.