From the Library of Sigmund Freud: Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis

Broadcast 24 October, 2024. Duration: 1 hour 29 minutes

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In this special online talk in support of the Sigmund Freud Library Conservation Appeal, Professor Daniel Orrells (KCL) and Freud Museum Research Manager Tom DeRose, discuss one of the most important influences on Freud’s theory of sexuality, Richard von Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis.

When Freud wrote his groundbreaking work on human sexuality, The Three Essays on a Theory of Sexuality, one of the nine authors he acknowledged in a footnote of its first page was Professor Richard von Krafft-Ebing, author of the pioneering Psychopathia Sexualis. Krafft-Ebing’s study of sexual perversions, first published in a modest 200-page tome in 1886, became a publishing phenomenon. By the time its had reached its twelfth and final edition, it had more than tripled in length, as readers sent the author their own personal case studies, keen to be recorded in the annuls of sexual perversions. Krafft-Ebing’s work helped put the human being qua sexual subject on the map and also helped pave the way for Freud’s epoch-making contribution.

Freud had a long-standing personal relationship with Krafft-Ebing. Even though the respected senior physician described Freud’s paper ‘The Aetiology of Hysteria’ as a ‘scientific fairytale’ when it was first delivered in 1896, Krafft-Ebing supported his daring colleague throughout his career, proposing him for the position of Professor Extraordinarius in 1897. Freud has no less than four editions of Krafft-Ebing’s magnum opus in his library, including the 1901 copy, dedicated to him by the author, which is the subject of this event. Tom DeRose, the Freud Museum Research Manager, and Daniel Orrells, Professor of Classics at Kings College London will discuss the unique contribution that Krafft-Ebing’s work made to the history of sexuality, and its impact of Freud’s early psychoanalytic theory.

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Speakers:

Daniel Orrells is Professor of Classics at King’s College London. His research explores the reception of the ancient world in modern cultural and intellectual history. His books include Classical Culture and Modern Masculinity (Oxford, 2011) and Sex: Antiquity and Its Legacy (London, 2015). His latest book is Antiquity in Print: Visualising Ancient Greece in the Eighteenth Century (London, 2024).

Tom DeRose is Research Manager at the Freud Museum London. He runs the Freud Museum Reading Group and hosts the Freud in Focus podcast. His research explores the philosophical aspects and cultural implications of Freud’s theories. His latest publication is ‘Freud’s changing views on Sadomasochism’, in ed. Akhtar and Crilley, The Joy of Torment (London, forthcoming).