The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud's magnum opus, was first published in 1899 but was given a copyright date of 1900 to associate it with the new century. This proved prophetic, as the book's impact on twentieth-century thought and culture has been immeasurable.

In a Preface to the third (revised) English edition, Freud himself said of his seminal work— which, he observes, "surprised the world"—that it represents "the most valuable of all the discoveries it has been my good fortune to make," adding that "insight such as this falls to one's lot but once in a lifetime."

Initial Reception

Freud was gravely disappointed by the initial reception of The Interpretation of Dreams, which was, according to Ritchie Robertson in an Introduction to the 1999 translation, "muted but respectful"; it sold only 350 copies in the first six years of publication. However, as Freud's reputation as the founder of psychoanalysis grew...