An initial browse through the picture plates of this book will send chills up and down your spine. If you are at all familiar with analytical psychology and the themes encountered while doing psychoanalysis, then you will feel "right at home" soaking up the symbolic meaning of Mr. Birkhäuser's images.
The book provides an introduction to the painter Peter Birkhäuser, the plates and commentaries, and a lecture by Peter Birkhäuser on `Analytical Psychology and the Problems of Art.' The text is in both English and German.
The individual plates each have a commentary by Marie-Louise von Franz, one of Carl Jung's "inner circle" of friends and analysts. The commentaries do not represent the conscious thoughts of the artist, but instead try to achieve a subsequent understanding of the paintings and thus hint at possible interpretations. Even so, her intuitive grasp of dreams, symbols and fairy tales makes it a rich source of commentary and connection to the `real material' being portrayed in the images.
You won't want to loan this book once you find one, so better get two copies so that you have a loaner!