Book
The Red Book: Liber Novus
The Red Book: Liber Novus records and artistically develops Carl Jung's confrontation with inner figures and images during a formative period of his psychology.
Summary
An illuminated manuscript documenting Jung’s imaginative encounters, inner figures, symbolic narratives, and reflections during the period from which central ideas of analytical psychology developed.
Key Topics
- Active imagination
- Inner figures and symbolic dialogue
- Individuation
- The transcendent function
- Religion, myth, and psychological transformation
Reader Guidance
Advanced reading. Begin with the scholarly introduction and do not treat the manuscript as a clinical manual, sacred authority, or prescribed method for reproducing Jung's experience.
What Is The Red Book?
The Red Book: Liber Novus is an illuminated manuscript in which Carl Jung recorded, revised, and interpreted imaginative encounters that began during his intense “confrontation with the unconscious.” It combines calligraphy, painting, dialogue, mythic narrative, and psychological reflection.
How It Was Created
Jung first recorded experiences in notebooks later known as the Black Books. He then transformed selected material into the carefully composed Liber Novus. Work on the manuscript extended across years, but it remained unpublished during his lifetime.
Why It Matters
The book provides historical context for active imagination, inner figures, symbolic transformation, the transcendent function, and later concepts of the Self and individuation.
How to Read It
This is not a beginner’s clinical manual or a sacred text. Read Sonu Shamdasani’s historical introduction, distinguish the manuscript’s voices from literal claims, and avoid imitating Jung’s experience as though it were a prescribed path.
Edition Information
This page records the full-size W. W. Norton facsimile edition, ISBN 9780393065671. It includes the German calligraphic manuscript, English translation, scholarly apparatus, and color images. The Amazon field remains blank until a verified direct Associates link is provided.
Cautions
Intense inner work can be destabilizing. The book should not be used to encourage sleep deprivation, withdrawal from care, literal obedience to inner voices, or claims of prophetic authority.