Carl Gustav Jung’s Red Book, formally titled Liber Novus (Latin for “new book”), will be opening to great fanfare at the Library of Congress on June 17. Weighing in at nine pounds and gilded in gold, this medieval-looking tome is filled with Jung’s fantastic illustrations and his seminal psychological ideas, which grew out of a 16-year self-exploration. His personal searchings went on to transform psychotherapy from a practice mostly concerned with treating the sick into a means for the higher development of the individual personality and laid the foundation for psychoanalytic therapy.
After Jung’s death in 1961, the book languished deep in a vault in Zurich, Switzerland. For years, only members of Jung’s family and a select few were allowed to view it. The family was long reluctant to publish it because of its intimate nature. But the book has received great acclaim.
In a discussion highlighted by illustrations from the Red Book, Jungian analyst Janice Quinn presents the context in which it was written, highlighting Jung’s principal ideas of the archetypes, the collective unconscious, and the process of individuation. She takes us through an exploration of Jung’s psychological developments in light of the newest revelations contained in this highly creative and controversial work.
Quinn is president of the Jungian Analysts of Washington Association.
