Before he became an analyst, Lacan was a psychiatrist. The articles in the present volume would not be being republished if they didn-t invite us to read them retroactively. What can they teach us about the formation of this future analyst? Lacan-s clinical approach is rooted in the uniqueness of each case, which is only ever chosen for its -singularity-. Each one must necessarily present an -original character- or be -atypical-. One might recognise from the outset an orientation towards the -one-by-one- required by the practice of psychoanalysis. The singularity of each case re-occurs at the level of the clinical details, studied with a concern for precision that extends down to the smallest detail, to the point where the observation may seem labyrinthine to the reader. Lacan will later declare his taste for -fidelity to the symptom-s formal envelope-. Three other features carry traces of the future. There is the use of the word -structure- to refer to the organisation of an entity th
