United States National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
History of Medicine

Directory of History of Medicine Collections

Name:

The Freud Museum London

Type:
Archive; Library; Museum
Address:
20 Maresfield Gardens
London NW3 5SX
United Kingdom
Contact:
Sophie Leighton, Curator
Telephone:
020 7435 2002
Telephone:
44 (0)20 7435 2002
Fax: +44 (0)20 7431 5452
Online:
Abstract:

The Freud Museum, at 20 Maresfield Gardens in Hampstead, was the home of Sigmund Freud and his family when they escaped Austria following the Nazi annexation in 1938. It remained the family home until Anna Freud, the youngest daughter, died in 1982. The centrepiece of the museum is Freud's study, preserved just as it was during his lifetime. This includes the largest remaining portion of Freud’s personal library.

Freud lent, gave and exchanged books throughout his life and few of the volumes he is known to have owned early in life have survived. Those surviving represent mainly, but not exclusively, the interests of his mature years. However, he still retained medical and scientific texts, editions of Darwin, Charcot, Krafft-Ebing, etc. from his early years.

There is an extensive collection of volumes on archaeology, and all aspects of the world of antiquity. Freud's interest in religion and particularly the history of Moses and the Jews is well represented, as are figures in the history of art, e.g. Leonardo da Vinci.

Literature figured largely in Freud's interests, and a complete edition of the works of Goethe has pride of place. There are also, amongst others, editions of Shakespeare, Gogol, Balzac and Anatole France.

The Museum provides access to the library by appointment only.

Holdings:

Sigmund Freud’s daughter Anna collected a substantial library, the content ranging from her early leisure reading to professional literature acquired in her practice as a psychoanalyst in London.

In the Anna Freud Library there are around 1300 volumes, mostly late 19th and 20th century. Many works containing authorial and donor inscriptions. (Printed list available in library).

In the Sigmund Freud Library there are around 2522 works (3000 volumes) which Freud selected to bring with him when he moved from Vienna to London in 1938. The collection includes many 19th and 20th cent. works on psychoanalysis, as well as archaeology, medicine, and the arts. Many works are in German, some are in Hebrew. 9% of collection is annotated by Freud, 20% containing manuscript dedications. (Printed and CD-ROM catalogue).J. K. Davies and G. Fichtner (eds), Freud’s Library. A Comprehensive Catalogue / Freud’s Bibliothek. Vollständiger Katalog (2006).
P. Brückner, Sigmund Freuds Privatlektüre (1975).

Subject Strengths:
History of Alternative Medicine; History of Medicine; History of Psychoanalysis; History of Psychology
Last Updated:
02 Jul 2014
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