ERINNERUNGEN AN SIGMUND FREUD. [Memories of Sigmund Freud]. by Binswanger, Ludwig (1881-1866) - (1956).

Bern [Switzerland]: Francke Verlag, (1956)., (1956).. Very good. INSCRIBED BY LUDWIG BINSWANGER TO HIS COLLEAGUE CLEMENS E. BENDA, THE AUTHORITY ON DOWN SYNDROME - Octavo, 8 inches high by 5-1/4 inches wide. Softcover, bound in glossy green paper wraps titled in white on the front cover & the spine. The covers are rubbed and the tail of the spine is chipped with a small tear to the bottom of the front joint. 120 pages. Very good.

First edition.

Roughly translated Binswanger begins his foreword by stating that "My memories of Sigmund Freud are memories of our friendship and its history. They are therefore not as significant as many other memoirs of scientific interest, but they throw a brighter light on Freud's personality which is still widely misunderstood."

Inscribed by Ludwig Binswanger to his colleague Clemens E. Benda in ink on the front endpaper. Dated "23.VII.56", the inscription is signed "L.B." by the pioneering existential psychologist.

The Swiss psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger (1881-1966) was a pioneer in the field of existential psychology. His grandfather was the founder of the "Bellevue Sanatorium" in Kreuzlingen. Considered the most distinguished of the phenomenological psychologists, Ludwig Binswanger was highly influential in disseminating the concept of existential psychology throughout Europe and the U.S.

Considered the authority on Down syndrome, which was then referred to as "Mongolism", Dr. Clemens E. Benda (1898-1975) was recognized as an internationally known expert on "mental deficiency". Benda argued for an end to "artificial distinctions between mental defect and mental illness" and believed that "so-called mentally deficient children are often the victims of unfair and unjust discrimination". Born in Berlin where he received his medical degree, Benda worked as a psychiatrist at the Binswanger Sanitarium in Switzerland. He moved to the U.S. as a research fellow at Harvard Medical School, eventually teaching at both Harvard and the University of Munich. Benda was also director of research and psychiatry for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Walter E. Fernald School, and the Wrentham State School in Massachusetts.