The Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud

The long-awaited Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (RSE) is founded on the canonical Standard Edition (SE) translation from the German by James Strachey, while adding a new layer of revisions and translations. Conceptual and lexicographic ambiguities are clarified in extensive new annotations.

Drawing on established conventions and intellectual traditions, the Revised Standard Edition supplements Freud’s writing with substantial editorial commentaries addressing controversial technical terms and translation issues through the lens of modern scholarship—a living text in dialogue with itself and the reader. The RSE also includes 56 essays and letters that were not included in the SE.

In the RSE text and footnotes, a subtle underlining distinguishes, in an easy and accessible way, Mark Solms’s revisions and additions from the historical translation and commentaries of James Strachey’s Standard Edition. Readers can examine what Strachey contributed before the revisions in tandem with Solms’s updates, new translations, annotations, and commentaries, collectively bringing Freud’s text and Strachey’s translation into dialogue with five decades of research, including the most recent developments in the field.

Commissioned by the British Psychoanalytical Society and co-published by Rowman & Littlefield, the Revised Standard Edition brings together decades of scholarly deliberation concerning the translation of Freudian technical terms while retaining the best of Strachey’s original English translation. This landmark work will captivate a wide audience, from interested lay readers to practising clinicians to scientists and scholars in fields related to psychoanalysis.

Special Features:

• New Freud material: This includes 56 notes, essays, and letters that were not included in the Standard Edition. They reveal new insights into Freud’s views on topics such as homosexuality and religion.
• New content: Underlined to identify changes to the Standard Edition, including corrections of mistakes in the original translation as well as new, clearer translations of many passages.
• New annotations: In the margins, providing the original German technical terms.
• New and updated editorial material and translation notes.
• New glossary: Concerning the translation of all key terms.
• New photographic illustrations.
• New and massively expanded Freud bibliography.
• Entirely revised 24th volume: A major scholarly work, including a comprehensive index for the whole set.
• Cross-referencing to the earlier SE: Facilitated by the addition of page numbers in square brackets in the margins.