The Red Book by C. G. Jung

The Red Book Liber Novus by C. G. Jung

The Red Book, also known as Liber Novus, is a red leather-bound folio manuscript book written by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung between 1914 and 1930.

The book was published in 2009 for the first time with commentary by Sonu Shamdasani, Ph.D., entitled The Red Book: Liber Novus.

The first volume of his legendary red leather-bound notebook (Liber Novus) has now been published along with an expert commentary by Dr. Shamdasani. The publication comes on the 100th anniversary of its author’s death, which occurred on 6 July 1961.

This first part contains many references to important figures from Eastern and Western culture – from Shiva to Christ to Homer – that were part of Jung’s inner world during this formative period of self-exploration.

Some illustrations show archetypal images that appeared repeatedly in his dreams; other entries contain elaborate paintings or drawings; still others are richly textured poetic prose.

But all of them testify to Jung’s genius, creativity, courage, and profound humanity. This volume also includes a transcription of Carl Gustav Jung’s letters to Freud written between 1906-1910; their exchange is remarkable for its candor, warmth, passion for truth and deep friendship despite their differing perspectives on psychology at that time.

To commemorate Jung’s legacy, Sonu Shamdasani has provided an extraordinary and generous introduction which covers not only an overview of his life and work but also a detailed biography of how he came to write The Red Book over 50 years ago.

Also included is Dr. Shamdasani’s insightful analysis of each page. He discusses such important matters as why it took so long for Jung to be comfortable with publication and what makes The Red Book so unique among his many works.

About Carl G Jung:

An Austrian psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology, which explains individual human behaviour by exploring unconscious elements of mind. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of extroversion and introversion; archetypes, and the collective unconscious.

While C. G.’s father was Protestant clergyman, C. G. himself remained unconvinced about religion throughout his life, calling himself an agnostic (meaning: one who believes there is insufficient evidence to determine whether God exists or not).

Thus, he did a lot of thinking about questions concerning human existence, including those concerning psyche (the human soul) and its development.

These thoughts led him into areas such as occultism and alchemy (studies concerned with trying to change base metals into gold), which were considered suspect during his lifetime in Europe.

Even more controversial were his investigations into alleged psychic abilities during dream states (hypnagogic hallucinations) and hypnosis — two phenomena that were almost universally rejected by European psychiatrists at that time — leading Jung to develop some very original theories about their underlying causes & characteristics.

In addition, he made significant contributions to fields ranging from sociology and anthropology through archaeology (focusing on symbolism found in archaeological artefacts) to medical history.

Through his researches into various facets of symbolic expression, Jung went beyond viewing symbols as simple representations of ideas. Instead, he saw symbols emerging from a process involving both conscious choice and unconscious projection; thus being increasingly complex constructions built up over time that could result in extremely personal mythologies unique to individuals.

Accordingly, symbol interpretation involved far more than simply breaking down abstract representations into their most basic meanings.

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You can visit Britannica to learn more about Carl Jung.

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