THE INTERNATIONAL PSYCHO‑ANALYTICAL PRESS

                              23 February 1921  London W1

«FL»Dear Professor:

«IP4,0»Many thanks for your letters of Feb. 7th and 18th.  Let me answer the latter first.  The true explanation is much simpler.  The probability is that you have mis‑read a note from Lissa & Kann (corresponding to one from them to me dated Feb. 15th) in which fl. means florins, which can be mistaken for F. I., the beginning of a thousand florins.  If you compare their letter «MDUL»L«MDNM» with their figure «MDUL»I«MDNM» you will see the difference.  They have made no mistake, at least in their acknowledgement of my instructions, and the correct sum was sent to Lippmann & Rosenthal, as shown by their acknowledgement to me.  But I will write to Lissa & Kann, as you request, and make sure that your total is confirmed.  You are right on one point, that I did not deduct my dividend of Fl. 75.  In fact I never knew, till your letter came this morning, that I possessed it.  I had written to ask them if a dividend was due, but they never answered, in their usual careless way.  I will have this transferred when I write.  The interest I did not deduct, as the smallness of the sum is not worth the complexity of the calculation.

«IP4,0»I hope you will get Strachey to carry out the plan of translating the papers you mention.  It will be very good to have them at last in English.  His translation of the Beaten Child, which I am just going through, is very fair (he ranks next to Miss Hubback and Mrs. Riviere as a translator), though it needs a good deal of correction, both as regards German and English.  By the way, there is a passage (S. 158, Z. 13 v.u.) about which I should like to make sure: "darf es aber als Beweis etc.".«FN1.××See last sentence of page beginning with "but we may regard it as a proof ..." (Freud, 1919e, pp. 187), «MDUL»G.W.«MDNM» 12:207.

»  From the context I can only think this means that the observed facts of genital excitement are a proof of the existence of the child's dim notion of normal adult sexual goals, but my wife says that grammatically the meaning Strachey has given it is the correct one, that the presence of the «MDUL»Ahnung«MDNM» [premonition] is a proof that the genitals have already begun their function.  Then, as happens in such cases, I get doubtful and wobble between the two possibilities.

We can never employ Mrs. Porter again after her terrible translation of Ferenczi, which Miss Low corrected and I glanced through.«FN1.××Ferenczi (1921).

»  The same applies to Dr. Cole«FN1.××Dr. Estelle Maude Cole, L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S. Edinburgh 1900, member of British Psycho‑Analytical Society.«MDNM»

» and ought to apply to Bryan were he not an editor.  This translation problem is driving me to despair.

You ask me about «MDUL»heterophoria«MDNM», which I suppose is «MDUL»Heterophorie«MDNM» in German.  I think it refers to disorders of ocular accommodation, functional troubles of the ciliary muscle.

What was quite new to me in your account of Young, in which I was very interested, is the connection between his shyness at marriage and lawful love and his relation to his sister.  By the way, he once said to me that he would rather even have the neurosis than be told that he still has any homosexuality, even unconsciously!

My Dutch patient arrived in London without any warning last October and insisted on being treated at once, for three months, although I was full, so I took my revenge by charging her higher fees than I have ever been paid before (or after, I fear).  It was a curious situation.  A woman of 37, married for 14 years to a man with whom she was anaesthetic (having both the relation of a mother and a daughter towards him), fell in love with a younger man, was sexually satisfied, but could not decide for a divorce.  She hesitated for two years, went to Maeder, who urged her to take what I think was a wrong solution, and then came to me, as both men were thoroughly tired of the uncertain situation.  Unfortunately I was not successful in freeing her mind, chiefly because her husband interfered so constantly that we could not make much progress with the analysis.  She is genuinely attached to him and he is in poor health.  At the end I advised her to return to him unless she would consent to go to you for a year's analysis, which she may yet do.

Hiller tells me you wish me to write a footnote to Farnell's weak paper, which of course I accepted only on political grounds.  Will you tell me what kind of note you mean?  He also says you told him that the author should add a note to the Staircase verses (I see my Fehlleistung;  I mean Psychology below Stairs). Stanford Read,«FN1.××Charles Stanford Read, M. D. 1914 London, specialist in psychological and mental disturbances, member of British Psycho‑Analytical Society.» the author, did write something, but it was such nonsense that I replaced it by a short note of my own.  He is useless.  There is no special reason for inserting the verses if you do not like them.«FN1.××F. J. Farnell, "Eroticism as Portrayed in Literature," «MDUL»Journal«MDNM», 1(1920):396‑413.  The verses in question appear to have been omitted from Farnell's text. Frederick, J. Farnell (b. 1885), M. D. 1908 Cornell University Medical College, specialist in psychiatry, Providence, R. I., charter member of the New York Psychoanalytic Society (12 February 1911). »  My only interest in it was the narcissistic estimation of the female genitals, in contradistinction from two of my present patients with Penisneid who say they cannot comprehend any woman being otherwise than ashamed of her anatomy.  I have had rich experience of this complex in the past few years and have learned very much about it.

Before Easter I hope to finish Das Kind wird geschlagen«MDUL»«MDNM», «MDUL»Jenseits des Lustprinzips«MDNM», and one or two further chapters of the «MDUL»Vorlesungen«MDNM»;«FN1.××Freud (1919e, 1920g) and Freud (1916‑17), 4th ed. 1922.»  I think you will be satisfied with them, for they are all having the utmost care.

I am now treating an interesting case of melancholia in a man of 56, with a history extending over the greater part of 20 years.  It takes the usual form of personal worthlessness because of masturbation, with fear of ruin, etc., but I cannot avoid the impression that the nucleus is a homosexuality, which is not prominent in your essay on the subject.  He turned from his wife because she was anaesthetic and had a miscarriage, and I think the masturbation refers to his son of whom he is extremely fond (Penis equals boy).  I should be grateful of any comments on this.

I am happy and well and trust you are the same.  My daughter now weighs a stone and so is being introduced to the complexities of English weights and measures!

With our kindest regards  yours always affectionately  Ernest Jones

«IP0,0»P.S. Would you be so kind as to give the enclosed to Strachey, as I haven't his address.