On typographical errors

In his overall assessment of parapraxes in 1901, Freud included typographical mistakes but did not elaborate on or study this subject nor did he have anything to say about it in his later writings. This paper lists textual errors from a variety of current literary sources and explores the dynamic importance of their execution and the failure to make necessary corrections during the editorial process. While there has been a deemphasis of the role of unconscious determinants in the genesis of all slips as a result of recent findings in cognitive psychology, the examples offered suggest that, with respect to motivation, lapses in compulsivity contribute to their original commission while thematic compliance and voyeuristic issues are important in their not being discovered prior to publication.