On the Couch: A Repressed History of the Analytic Couch from Plato to Freud
Language: English
Published by The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2017
- First Edition
- Hardcover
- Used

Seller: Fahrenheit's Books, Denver, CO, U.S.A.Fahrenheit's Books
AbeBooks seller since June 27, 1997
Association member: RMABA
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 15.59
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
First edition, hard cover, has slight skew to binding, slight bumps to top of spine and upper rear corner, faint shelfwear to base of spine, edges, and other corners, and faint rubbing, otherwise a solid, clean VG+ copy in like dust jacket which has very slight bumps to spine ends and corners, faint shelfwear to top edge of rear flap, and some faint rubbing.
Seller Inventory # 94259
- Title
- On the Couch: A Repressed History of the Analytic Couch from Plato to Freud
- Author
- Kravis, Nathan
- Publisher
- The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
- Publication year
- 2017
- Condition
- Very Good+
- Dust jacket
- Very Good+
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0262036614
- ISBN 13
- 9780262036610
- Edition
- 1st Edition.
- Seller catalogs
- Psychology
How the couch became an icon of self-knowledge and self-reflection as well as a site for pleasure, transgression, and healing.
The peculiar arrangement of the psychoanalyst's office for an analytic session seems inexplicable. The analyst sits in a chair out of sight while the patient lies on a couch facing away. It has been this way since Freud, although, as Nathan Kravis points out in On the Couch, this practice is grounded more in the cultural history of reclining posture than in empirical research. Kravis, himself a practicing psychoanalyst, shows that the tradition of recumbent speech wasn't dreamed up by Freud but can be traced back to ancient Greece, where guests reclined on couches at the symposion (a gathering for upper-class males to discuss philosophy and drink wine), and to the Roman convivium (a banquet at which men and women reclined together). From bed to bench to settee to chaise-longue to sofa: Kravis tells how the couch became an icon of self-knowledge and self-reflection as well as a site for pleasure, privacy, transgression, and healing.
Kravis draws on sources that range from ancient funerary monuments to furniture history to early photography, as well as histories of medicine, fashion, and interior decoration, and he deploys an astonishing array of images―of paintings, monuments, sculpture, photographs, illustrations, New Yorker cartoons, and advertisements.
Kravis deftly shows that, despite the ambivalence of today's psychoanalysts―some of whom regard it as “infantilizing”―the couch continues to be the emblem of a narrative of self-discovery. Recumbent speech represents the affirmation in the presence of another of having a mind of one's own.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Fahrenheit's Books
Denver, CO, U.S.A.
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 7 to 15 business days | 4 to 7 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 5.30 | £ 10.60 |
Payment methods
- Money Order
Store description
Fahrenheit's Books is an open shop in Denver, Colorado, please feel free to visit us if you are in the neighborhood, we are open Wednesday-Monday from 11 to 6, and closed on Tuesday. We have an eclectic general stock of approximately 40,000 titles. Fahrenheit's Books is a member of the Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association (RMABA), and was picked by 5280 Magazine as the editor's choice for Top Used Bookstore in Denver, and by Westword Magazine as "Denver's Best Literary Survivor on the Move". Please visit our website at www.fahrenheitsbooks.org…
Specialty
Vintage Paperbacks, Science Fiction, Metaphysics, Philosophy, LiteratureAssociation member
Members of these associations are committed to maintaining the highest standards. They vouch for the authenticity of all items offered for sale. They provide expert and detailed descriptions, disclose all significant defects and/or restorations, provide clear and accurate pricing, and operate with fairness and honesty during the purchase experience.Seller's business information
Fahrenheit's Books
1415 S. Broadway
Denver, CO U.S.A. 80210
Terms of sale
Online titles are stored in a separate facility, so if you would like to see any of these titles at the shop, please email us and we will bring them down for you.
We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, & money orders (for U.S. dollars only drawn on U.S. banks only please), and cash (at your own risk of course).
Fahrenheit's Books LLP
210 S. Broadway
Denver, CO 80209
303-744-1043
bill@fahrenheitsbooks.com
Bill Montague, representative.
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Fahrenheit's Books, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.