Important association copy, inscribed and signed by Sigmund Freud to Adolf Lorenz

FREUD, Sigmund & RIE, Oscar.

Klinische Studie über die halbseitige Cerebrallähmung der Kinder. Beiträge zur Kinderheilkunde aus dem 1. öffentlichen Kinderkranken-Institute in Wien. Herausgegeben von Dr. Max Kassowitz. III. Heft.

Vienna: Moritz Perles, 1891.

1st Edition. Soft cover. Very Good. Item #003965

8vo (260 x 167 mm). [2], 220, [2] pp., 8 folding tables. Entirely uncut and unopened. Original publisher's printed wrappers. Wrappers with light edge chipping and fraying, spine panel with splitting of paper and loss at head and foot, minor repair to upper right corner of front wrapper. Protected in custom-made clamshell box by R. Sandy of half calf over marbled boards. Text and tables with light even browning, some minor dust-soiling to exposed outer blank margins. A very good copy. Provenance: Adolf Lorenz* ----

RARE FIRST EDITION of the first independent (non-journal) work by Freud which appeared directly before the epochal aphasia study. Freud deals with this area until 1897, a time when he was no longer looking for physiological explanations but psychological explanations for mental disorders. All subsequent publications dealt with the new concept for which Freud coined the name Psychoanalysis in 1896.
Sigmund Freud's clinical study of hemiplegia in children is one of his early neurological works and offers insights into his scientific approach before he devoted himself fully to psychoanalysis. Freud focused intensively on neuroanatomy and the pathological basis of neurological disorders. He investigated the causes and symptoms of hemiplegia in children, a condition caused by damage to the brain that leads to paralysis on one side of the body. In his work, Freud criticized the prevailing theories on the localization of brain functions at the time. He argued that the ideas about the rigid assignment of certain mental functions to specific brain regions were too simplistic and that complex neurological conditions such as aphasia (speech disorder) could not be explained by such assignments alone. He emphasized the importance of the psychological effects of neurological disorders. This early work already shows his tendency to link psychological and neurological phenomena, which later led to his development of psychoanalysis. Although this study was largely neurologically and medically oriented, it laid the foundation for Freud's later interest in the relationship between the brain and the psyche and demonstrates his early preoccupation with the connection between the physical and psychological aspects of illness. Freud largely used clinical observations and case studies for his investigations and combined these with a theoretical reflection on the underlying mechanisms of illness.
Rie (1863-1931) was a pediatrician, colleague, and close friend of Freud. The two became acquainted while Freud was in charge of the Neurological Department at the Institute for Children's Diseases in Vienna and co-authored the 1891 Klinische Studie über die halbseitige Cerebrallähmung der Kinder, a study of unilateral paralysis in children. Pp. 213-220 comprises a bibliography of 180 publications on this topic.
*Adolf Lorenz (1854-1946) was an Austrian orthopedic surgeon and father of famed ethologist Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989). Adolf Lorenz was known for his work in orthopaedic surgery, in particular for his methods of non-invasive treatment of hip dislocations.
References & Bibliography: Norman F14; Meyer-Palmedo/Fichtner 1891a; Grinstein 27; Waller I, 3248. - Visit our website to see more images!

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