Author:
Eugen Bleuler [Paul Eugen Bleuler] (1857-1939), Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist, who coined such psychiatric terms as 'schizophrenia', 'schizoid', 'autism' and 'ambivalence'
Publication details:
On his letterhead, Zurich, Switzerland; 5 March 1939.
1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Written a few months before Bleuler's death to an unnamed recipient ('Liebster Freund!'), regarding the possibility of consciousness within the plant kingdom. As a nonbotanist ('als Nichtbotaniker') Bleuler has no knowledge of 'die Falle, wo Pflanzen Gedichtnis oder sonst eine psyche-artige Funktion zeigen', with the exception of 'der Mimosen', and it strikes him ' dass ich eigentlich die Pflicht hatte, das Material so weit als moglich zu kennen, bevor ich etwas drucken lasse'.
