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ing on another book, focused on Freud, Rome, Minna Bernays, and the
Anti-Christ; when published, this will bring his research on the
connections of these important subjects to a wider audience.
An additional debt to Swales is that he has always been generous with his detailed scholarly expertise. There is nothing more frustrating, at least for me, than the problem of the lost footnote. Nine times out of ten when I asked him, he knew what I was looking for or where to find it. Even when I had to continue my search, Peter’s friendly reception of my inquiry was greatly appreciated. There are others to whom I owe much. Here in the Psychology Department at New York University, Professor Robert Holt has read and commented on my work at various stages. I have benefited often from his insightful comments. I am especially grateful to Professor Harry Bober who in his usual gracious and scholarly manner first filled me in on the cultural significance of Walpurgisnacht and on a number of art history issues raised in the course of this work. Dr. Marianne Krüll’s book Freud und sein Vater (1979; recently published in English as Freud and His Father, 1986) has been of great help. In addition, she has generously given her own personal comments on my final draft. The Dutch psychologist Dr. G. J. M. van den Aardweg read Chapters 4 and 5, and I appreciate his remarks on Freud’s relationship to the Devil. I would also like to acknowledge the helpful and stimulating comments of a young clinical psychologist and former student of mine, John Gartner. Two Czech scholars have been quite helpful — for, as the reader might imagine, getting information about daily life in mid-19th-century Moravia (in Czechoslovakia) is not easy. Here most of what I know has come from two native-born Czechs who were always gracious and generous with their time: Professor Jindrich Zezula of New York University, and Professor Sidney Rutar of St. Francis College, Brooklyn. In addition, I would like to acknowledge a student of mine, Fred Drobin, now a psychotherapist, whose thesis on Freud, written under my direction, was very helpful. Others, colleagues and friends, who have contributed helpful comments and suggestions are James Blight, Professor Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., and Professor Robert Sollod. A positive personal source of support was Dr. Karl Menninger. Though we have never met, his reading of drafts of this book, his suggestions, and his encouraging letters have been greatly appreciated. Professor Paul Roazen has also been helpful, and his book Freud and His Followers (1975) has been indispensable. I would like to list other scholars and their books that have proved of special relevance for me. I only hope I do them justice in the text and footnotes. These are, in alphabetical order: David Bakan, Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Mystical Tradition (1958); John Bowlby’s trilogy, |