The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud
| Company type | Book series |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Founder | Ernest Jones |
| Products | Biography of Sigmund Freud |
| Parent | Hogarth Press (original publisher) |
The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud is a comprehensive biography of Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of psychoanalysis, authored by psychoanalyst Ernest Jones. Initially released in three volumes (1953, 1955, 1957) through Hogarth Press, it continues to be regarded as the definitive account of Freud’s life. In 1961, literary critics Lionel Trilling and Steven Marcus produced a condensed single-volume version. Upon publication, the biography garnered positive acclaim and surpassed anticipated sales; however, Jones has faced criticism for presenting an excessively favorable portrayal of Freud and exhibiting partiality against competing psychoanalysts such as Otto Rank and Sándor Ferenczi.
Summary
Jones’ objective is to "document the principal facts of Freud’s life" while linking his character and personal experiences to the evolution of his theoretical contributions. He challenges previous biographies for containing "distortions and inaccuracies." The narrative emphasizes Freud’s interactions with physiologist Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow alongside psychoanalysts Sándor Ferenczi and Otto Rank.
Background and publication history
In 1946, Leon Shimkin from Simon & Schuster approached Jones with a proposal to write Freud’s biography. Jones reached out to Freud’s daughter, psychoanalyst Anna Freud, who initially expressed reservations due to Jones’ support for Melanie Klein during her dispute with Anna. Anna recommended collaborating with psychologist Siegfried Bernfeld, who was independently preparing a biography of Freud but agreed to assist Jones. Following tensions—particularly after Jones penned a preface to Freud’s The Question of Lay Analysis—Anna contemplated withdrawing her endorsement, suggesting Bernfeld and psychoanalyst Ernst Kris as alternatives. Nonetheless, Jones secured a contract in 1947.
By 1950, Jones sought Bernfeld’s cooperation; Bernfeld contributed research assistance, revised drafts, and responded to detailed inquiries about Freud’s life, including specifics such as his birth date and intellectual relationships. Psychoanalyst James Strachey also provided input. Trust from the Freud family was strengthened when Jones shared early manuscript chapters with Anna Freud, who subsequently supplied correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. Although Bernfeld lost Anna’s support over concerns regarding sensationalism and privacy breaches, he remained an informant on Freud’s cocaine use.
The biography was issued in three volumes by Hogarth Press between 1953 and 1957, followed by a 1961 abridged edition compiled by Trilling and Marcus.
Reception
Borch-Jacobsen and Shamdasani note that The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud enjoyed strong reception, selling 15,000 copies within its initial two weeks in New York City. The Manchester Guardian commended Jones for depicting Freud as "one of the greatest figures of any era," whereas psychologist Bruno Bettelheim criticized the work for containing "mistakes and omissions" along with a lack of impartiality. Bettelheim was among the first to highlight the biography's dependence on limited documents from the Sigmund Freud Archives, raising doubts about its reliability.
They contend that Jones distorted Freud’s cocaine experiments, labeling his accounts as "ambiguous and deceptive" in order to rationalize Freud’s inaccurate success claims. The book is described as a "masterful dramatization of the Freudian myth," accusing Jones of selectively citing sources that reinforce Freud’s narrative while omitting contradictory evidence. They also argue that Jones exaggerated early negative critiques of Freud’s work and incorrectly depicted him as puritanical.
Additional critics include former psychoanalyst Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, psychologist Hans Eysenck, historians Roy Porter and R. Andrew Paskauskas, as well as author Richard Webster. Eysenck referred to it as the "most renowned" biography of Freud but regarded it as "more legend than factual history," accusing Jones of suppressing unfavorable information. Porter described it as "hagiographic and sanitized." Paskauskas pointed out modifications in Freud’s English usage and citation mistakes, including misattributions of letters. Webster deemed Jones unreliable for substituting critical accounts with excessively positive portrayals.
Mixed evaluations come from psychologist Frank Sulloway, historian Roger Smith, psychologist Louis Breger, and psychiatrist E. James Lieberman alongside consultant Robert Kramer. Sulloway labeled it "monumental" and the authoritative biography on Freud but faulted Jones for neglecting psychoanalysis’ biological foundations. Smith saw it as an "official biography" that remains relevant despite being overtaken by later works. Breger acknowledged bias stemming from Jones’ involvement in psychoanalysis and antagonism toward rivals but appreciated its rich original material. Lieberman and Kramer recognized it as the most influential biography on Freud, noting Jones’ long-standing acquaintance with him and exclusive access to letters published only after 1990; however, they identified partisan partiality against Ferenczi and Rank.
Positive appraisals include historian Peter Gay, philosophers Jerome Neu and Richard Wollheim, along with sociologist Christopher Badcock. Gay praised it as "thoroughly informed" and the "classic biography of Freud," commending its assessments despite stylistic shortcomings while distinguishing between Freud’s life events and his theories. He defended Jones against accusations of envy toward rivals like Ferenczi, emphasizing alignment with Freud’s own unpublished views. Neu identified this biography alongside Gay’s Freud: A Life for Our Time (1988) as among the two most valuable biographies on Freud. Wollheim regarded it as a "remarkable" biography shaped by Anna Freud’s approval constraints, alternating between narrative life story and theoretical examination. In 1992, Badcock stated that despite critiques, the work remains unmatched as the sole biography encompassing all known writings of Freud at its time of composition.
Bibliography
- Badcock, Christopher. Essential Freud, 2nd Edition. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, 1992. ISBN 0-631-17774-4.
- Borch-Jacobsen, Mikkel; Shamdasani, Sonu. The Freud Files: Investigating the History of Psychoanalysis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012. ISBN 978-0-521-72978-9.
- Breger, Louis. Freud: Darkness Amidst Vision. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2000. ISBN 0-471-31628-8.
- Eysenck, Hans. The Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1986. ISBN 0-14-022562-5.
- Gay, Peter. Freud: A Life for Our Era. Papermac, London, 1995. ISBN 0-333-48638-2.
- Gay, Peter. The Bourgeois Experience Victoria to Freud. Volume I: Education of the Senses. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984. ISBN 0-19-503728-6.
- Jones, Ernest. The Life and Achievements of Sigmund Freud. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1964. ISBN 0-14-02-0661-2.
- Lieberman, E. James; Kramer, Robert (editors). The Letters of Sigmund Freud & Otto Rank: Insights into Psychoanalysis. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4214-0354-0.
- Masson, Jeffrey. The Assault on Truth: Freud’s Suppression of the Seduction Hypothesis. Ballantine Books, New York, 2003. ISBN 0-345-45279-8.
- Neu, Jerome (editor). The Cambridge Companion to Freud. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991. ISBN 0-521-37779-X.
- Paskauskas, R. Andrew (editor). Complete Correspondence of Sigmund Freud and Ernest Jones 1908–1939. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1995. ISBN 0-674-15424-X.
- Porter, Roy. A Social History of Madness: Narratives of the Insane. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1989. ISBN 0-297-79571-6.
- Smith, Roger. The Norton History of the Human Sciences. W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1997. ISBN 0-393-31733-1.
- Sulloway, Frank J. Freud: Biologist of the Mind – Beyond the Psychoanalytic Myth. Burnett Books, New York, 1979. ISBN 0-233-97177-7.
- Webster, Richard. Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis. The Orwell Press, Oxford, 2005. ISBN 0-9515922-5-4.
- Wollheim, Richard. Freud. FontanaPress, London, 1991. ISBN 0-00-686223-3.