17th January 1927.

Dear Friends,

It is agreeable to note that the main news of the New Year strikes a pleas-
ant note. First comes the news, which reached me from four quarters of
Europe, about Professor’s highly secret visit to Berlin. That is, of course,
a matter of intense gratification, and it has even revived my long cherished 
dream of seeing Professor some time in England.

I found Ferenczi’s account of his doings in America extremely satisfac-
tory and wish to congratulate him on the obvious success he is achieving. As I
wrote to him recently, it makes me inclined to think that my advice not to go to
America was wrong. He has evidently made a correct diagnosis of the situation
there. The conflict is especially strong between the Group who wish to develop
psycho-analytical knowledge intensively and so raise its standard in America and,
on the other hand, the general tendency to diffuse scraps of information about
it in a superficial way among society at large, including the medical profession.
The Group is, as we know, hampered by its own standard not being satisfactory,
as can be measured by the fact that probably not a single member can carry through
a difficult analysis to the end, so that they have no nucleus round which to
cluster. I have heard recently from several analysts in New York. They all
welcome Ferenczi and think most highly of him, but are embarrassed by his attitude
towards lay analysis which they judge to be unsuited to American conditions.
 

In the first days of this year appeared Numbers Eleven and Twelve of
the Inter. Psycho-Analytical Library, Ferenczi’s substantial volume of Collected 
Papers and Professor’s “The Ego and the Id”. I have just heard from America
that Pierce Clark, who has just separated from the New York group and whose
English style is difficult to describe, has published a translation of “Hemmung,
Symptom und Angst”. It is said to be “authorized”, but I find this hard to be-
lieve and I will beg Professor to inform me about it. If the news is true it
would exclude an English translation of the book, which would be a great disappoint-
ment. Mrs Rivière had naturally counted on translating it as the next in our
series.

The news about the Society, Clinic etc. continues to be quite satisfactory.
I have already received three contributions to the forthcoming discussion on lay
analysis and am in contact with Radó, so that they may appear similarly in both
“Journal” and “Zeitschrift”.

With best wishes to all for the New Year.

Yours always,  
Ernest Jones