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"Totem and Taboo" is a collection of four essays that were originally published in the psychoanalytical journal «Imago» from 1912-1913. The four essays, «The Horror of Incest», «Taboo and Emotional Ambivalence», «Animism, Magic and the Omnipotence of Thought», and «The Return of Totemism in Childhood», explore the application of psychoanalysis to the fields of archeology, anthropology, and the study of religion. A classic work of early psychoanalysis, «Totem and Taboo» is a must read for students of the discipline.

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Henry James (1843-1916) was an America-born English writer whose novels, short stories and letters established the foundation of the modernist movement in twentieth century fiction and poetry. His career, one of the most significant and influential in English literature, spanned over five decades and resulted in a body of work that has had a profound impact on generations of writers. Born in New York, but educated in France, Germany, England and Switzerland, James often explored the cultural discord between the Old World (Europe) and the New World (United States) in his writings. Included in this first volume of «The Complete Tales of Henry James» are the earliest published writings from the author beginning with «A Tragedy of Error,» published in 1864. Also included in this volume: «The Story of a Year,» «A Landscape-Painter,» «A Day of Days,» «My Friend Bingham,» «Poor Richard,» «The Story of a Masterpiece,» «The Romance of a Certain Old Clothes,» «A Most Extraordinary Case,» «A Problem,» and «De Grey: A Romance».

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First published in 1899, this book has come to be known as Freud's masterwork. Within its pages are his introductions of the id, the ego, and the superego, as well as a groundbreaking theory of dream analysis involving this explanation of the unconscious. According to Freud, dreams are forms of wish fulfillment, a sort of conflict resolution through subconscious processing of past and present troubles. Though Freud later wrote of many other ideas he had pertaining to the mind, both credible and discredited over time, he undoubtedly changed and deepened forever how we think and understand our own human minds. This revolutionary alteration began with «The Interpretation of Dreams,» which has since advanced our scientific perception of the mind, making our interior existence immensely more enigmatic.

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"The following work is devoted to an account of the characteristics of crowds. The whole of the common characteristics with which heredity endows the individuals of a race constitute the genius of the race. When, however, a certain number of these individuals are gathered together in a crowd for purposes of action, observation proves that, from the mere fact of their being assembled, there result certain new psychological characteristics, which are added to the racial characteristics and differ from them at times to a very considerable degree."-From the Preface to «The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind», a pivotal work in the field of group psychology which was written in 1895 by French social psychologist, Gustave Le Bon.

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A pivotal work in the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud, “Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality” puts forth many of the foundational ideas that make up Freud’s influential theories on sexuality. Freud builds upon his theories of the unconscious that he introduced in “The Interpretation of Dreams” in 1899 and argues that the unconscious mind plays a significant role in sexual behavior and that sexual experiences are a driving force in the development of psychological neuroses and perversions. In this 1905 work, Freud contends that sexual perversion is caused by repression and its root may be found in childhood experiences and not those of adolescence. Freud examines both the abnormal disorders, such as bestiality and pedophilia, as well as the sexual perversions and repressions that can affect otherwise normal and healthy individuals. “Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality” and its subsequent editions introduced many important ideas into the psychological study of human sexual behavior, such as penis envy, castration anxiety, and the Oedipus complex. Freud believed that sexual abnormalities were some of the most important to study as they affected nearly everyone, from the deeply disturbed to the normally behaved, and his theories have had a far-reaching impact on the field of psychology.

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First published in 1920, “Beyond the Pleasure Principle”, by world-renowned psychologist Sigmund Freud, marks a major turning point in the author’s theoretical approach. Prior to this work, Freud’s examination of the forces that drive people focused primarily on the sexual drive, or Eros of man, the life instinct to reproduce that is innate in all humans. Freud had attributed most of human behavior to the seeking of sexual pleasure. However, in “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” Freud moves away from these creative and pleasure-seeking impulses as the only motivator of human action to instead examine the impact on human psychology of the death drive, or Thanatos, which Freud describes as “an urge inherent in all organic life to restore an earlier state of things”. Freud still believes the pleasure principle is the more dominant force, but argues as well that unpleasant experiences have a great influence on the mind and are often the source of repetitive, compulsive behaviors. Freud also revisits his earlier theory that dreams are a form of wish fulfillment as he examines the reliving of traumatic events in dreams. One of Freud’s most controversial and influential works, “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” remains an important and fascinating read.

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First published in 1895, “The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind” is a pivotal work in the field of group psychology written by French social psychologist Gustave Le Bon. Le Bon theorizes that there are several characteristics of crowds as distinguishable from individual behavior. As it states in the preface: “The following work is devoted to an account of the characteristics of crowds. The whole of the common characteristics with which heredity endows the individuals of a race constitute the genius of the race. When, however, a certain number of these individuals are gathered together in a crowd for purposes of action, observation proves that, from the mere fact of their being assembled, there result certain new psychological characteristics.” Le Bon summarizes these key differences as impulsiveness, lack of reason, irritability, and the exaggeration of emotion and sentiment. In essence, Le Bon argues that a person in a crowd becomes hypnotized and taken over by the influence or magnetism of the crowd. As populations have grown and the ability for people to gather and share ideas has become greater, Le Bon’s observations regarding the dangers of crowds remain as relevant and important today as when they were written over a century ago.

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Central to Sigmund Freud’s philosophy on psychoanalysis is the idea that dreams give a window into one’s unconscious desires. This is the principal argument of his groundbreaking work “The Interpretation of Dreams”, published in 1899. However, realizing the incredibly technical and dense nature of that more detailed work, Freud felt that a simpler and more accessible derivation of his theories was necessary in order to popularize his ideas and to make them more understandable to the average person. “On Dreams”, published in 1901 and translated into English in 1914, is the result of that endeavor and it is executed with masterful effect. “On Dreams” is a straightforward and simplified explanation of Freud’s theories on dreams and their meanings, such as condensation, dramatization, displacement, repression, the three classes of dreams, and how dreams are affected by the events of the previous day. “On Dreams” serves as a great place to start for those who wish to learn more about the meanings of their own dreams, as well as how Freud’s influential and important ideas helped to form the field of psychoanalysis.

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There exists, of course, few more famous figures in the field of psychology than Sigmund Freud. As the founding father of psychoanalysis, or the clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst, his impact on the field of psychology cannot be overstated. Based on a series of lectures given at the University of Vienna in 1915, “Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis” builds upon Freud’s earlier work “Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis” to provide a comprehensive overview of the pioneer’s work in the field of psychoanalysis. G. Stanley Hall describes in his preface that “these twenty-eight lectures to laymen are elementary and almost conversational. Freud sets forth with a frankness almost startling the difficulties and limitations of psychoanalysis, and also describes its main methods and results as only a master and originator of a new school of thought can do. These discourses are at the same time simple and almost confidential, and they trace and sum up the results of thirty years of devoted and painstaking research.” “Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis” is a must read for those interested in the field of psychology and Freud’s contribution to it.

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First published in 1902, “The Varieties of Religious Experience” is William James’ philosophical and psychological examination of the nature of religion in human civilization. Based on James’s own Gifford Lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland between 1901 and 1902, James argues that “Scientific theories are organically conditioned just as much as religious emotions are; and if we only knew the facts intimately enough, we should doubtless see ‘the liver’ determining the dicta of the sturdy atheist as decisively as it does those of the Methodist under conviction anxious about his soul. When it alters in one way the blood that percolates it, we get the Methodist, when in another way, we get the atheist form of mind.” William James’ examination of the psychology of religion in this work arose out of a perceived need for the academic study of the subject. The concepts put forth here would later be developed into James’ philosophy of pragmatism, which he expounded upon in his 1907 work “Pragmatism”. “The Varieties of Religious Experience” has been acknowledged as a monumental work of modern psychology ever since its original publication. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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