Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1767-1973 (1767; 1895-1973) (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
63 boxes, 3 oversize folders
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
James Strachey was born in London on 26 Sep 1887. Born into an illustrious intellectual family, he was the thirteenth, and last, child of Sir Richard and Henrietta Strachey. After education at home and at Hillbarrow and St Paul's schools, he followed his elder brother, Lytton, to Cambridge in 1905, where he studied classics at Trinity College. Here he came into contact with many of the key figures who would later form the highly influential Bloomsbury Group; he also became involved in the Society of Psychical Research and through this became interested in psychoanalysis.
Alix Sargant-Florence was born in New Jersey on 4 Jun 1892, the daughter of British artist Mary Sargant-Florence and American musician Henry Smythe Florence. She grew up in an artistic atmosphere and studied for a year at the Slade School of Fine Art. In 1911 she entered Newnham College, Cambridge, to study modern languages, where she became acquainted with Freud's work. She had met James Strachey the previous year but they consolidated their relationship at weekly meetings of the Bloomsbury Group.
James and Alix married in 1920 and, in the same year, James wrote to Ernest Jones expressing his desire to become a psychoanalyst. They moved to Vienna at Jones' recommendation, where James, and later Alix, were analysed by Freud. During their analyses the Stracheys began, at Freud’s request, to translate some of his works into English. This was to be the start of their life-long collaboration to make the works of Freud accessible to the English-speaking world.
On their return to London in 1922, they both became associate members of the British Psychoanalytical Society, becoming full members in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, James started his own psychoanalytic practice and, having been trained by James Glover, was himself later the training analyst of D W Winnicott. Alix was further analysed by Karl Abraham, Edward Glover and Sylvia Payne. During this period, Alix and James worked on translations that would eventually be published under the title of Sigmund Freud's Collected Papers and, together and individually, Alix and James translated much of Freud's work.
After Freud's death in 1939 James began work on his most famous endeavour, 'The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud', working in collaboration with Anna Freud and assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson. Between 1953 and 1966, twenty-three volumes were published. James Strachey died on 25 Apr 1967, during the production of the twenty-fourth and final volume, which contained indexes and bibliographies and which was compiled by Angela Harris (née Richards) and Alix Strachey. This volume was finally published in 1974, shortly after Alix Strachey’s death on 28 Apr 1973. 'The Standard Edition' has since become the standard Freudian reference text for psychoanalysts.
Repository
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Materials concerning the Strachey's translation of psychoanalytic texts, particularly 'The Standard Edition of the Complete Works of Sigmund Freud'. Also included are their own psychoanalytic writings, plus professional and personal papers and correspondence.
The bulk of this collection is material related to the translation of the works of Sigmund Freud by James Strachey for 'The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud', plus other translations and writings by both James and Alix Strachey. Also included are: written works by colleagues; personal and professional correspondence and papers (including extensive correspondence regarding the Stracheys' translations and publications); personal material.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
The material is arranged into seven series:
P17-A - The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud
P17-B - Other Editions of the Works of Sigmund Freud
P17-C - Writings by Alix Strachey and James Strachey
P17-D - Notebooks and Loose Notes
P17-E - Writings by Other Authors
P17-F - Correspondence and Professional Papers
P17-G - Personal Materials
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access to our archive collections in our reading room is by appointment only; please email the archivist to arrange your visit. Please note that access to material that is in poor physical condition may be restricted.
Access to the information in our archive is governed by our access policy and guided by sector ethical codes and relevant legislation.
We charge fees for access, reprographics and guided research; please see our current price list.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies of material from our archive collections may be supplied for research and private study in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Written permission must be obtained from the chair of the archive committee and the archivist to reproduce or publish any material held in our archive.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearance from the copyright holder.
We reserve the right to make a charge for the publication of material obtained from our archive.
Language of material
- English
- French
- German
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
The collection catalogue is published online
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
The following material can be found in collections held by the British Psychoanalytical Society:
The Ernest Jones collection (ref. P04-C-E-13) includes correspondence between James Strachey and Jones.
The William Gillespie collection includes comments by Gillespie on a paper by either James or Alix Strachey (ref. P16-A-G-08), plus Gillespie's obituary of him (ref. P16-A-E-02).
The Sylvia Payne collection includes two letters from Payne to James Strachey (ref. P21-G-01), plus Payne’s obituary of him (ref. P21-D-07).
In addition, material related to publication of the 'Standard Edition' and other works can be found in the records of the Society (ref. S-C) and the photograph collection (ref. PH) includes photographs of James and Alix Strachey, as well as photographs of the banquet held to celebrate the completion of the 'Standard Edition'.
The following papers are available in other repositories:
The James Strachey/Angela Harris collection, held in the special collections of the Albert Sloman Library, University of Essex, contains further material related to the production of the ' Standard Edition' and the Pelican Freud Library.
The special collections of the University of Reading library holds the records of the Hogarth Press, 1917-1955.
The University of Sussex Special Collections holds correspondence between James Strachey and Leonard Woolf, 1948-67 (ref. SxMs 13/Pt III).
The Wellcome Library holds correspondence between James Strachey and Melanie Klein (ref. PP/KLE).
The British Library Manuscripts Collections includes letters to James Strachey from Dora Carrington, 1916-32 (ref. Add MS 65158).
The Women’s Library holds correspondence of members of the Strachey family, including James Strachey, 1865-1958 (ref. 9/27).
The Lytton Strachey collection at the Henry W & Albert A Berg Collection of English and American Literature (New York Public Library) includes correspondence with James Strachey (ref. Berg Coll MSS Strachey).
Publication note
The following publications were produced from material in this collection:
The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud' by Sigmund Freud, translated by James Strachey, assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson, 1953-1974, London: The Hogarth Press.
The Unconscious Motives of War' by Alix Strachey, 1957, London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
- Latin