In the world of psychoanalysis, the late Otto Fenichel was pre-eminently distinguished for brilliant scholarship, incisive powers of observation, tireless energy and skill. "There was nothing in the analytic atmosphere," says Bertram D. Lewin in his Introduction, "for which he did not serve as a condenser, no currents for which he did not serve as a medium. His justly famous book The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis, with its immense erudition and textual profusion, is monumental and a lasting demonstration of his immense capacity."
His highly significant essays explore many subjects that were only touched on in his books. Many of these discussions, present-day classics in their fields, are comprehensive monographs in themselves. Often so much is brought to bear on the central topic from so many sources, and then related so clearly to the context, that these essays become works of reference for a much larger field. It is a contribution of the greatest value to preserve and make conveniently available so much that is intensely useful from the life work of this remarkable man.
The papers forming this volume are those that were written between the years 1922 and 1936. A Second Series, containing papers written from 1936 to 1946, is also available. The papers have been collected and edited by Dr. Hanna Fenichel and Dr. David Rapaport. Papers not heretofore published in English have been especially translated for this work by James and Alix Strachey.
