Letter to Ferdinand Lassalle, July 28, 1855


MARX TO FERDINAND LASSALLE

IN PARIS

London, 28 July 1855 28 Dean Street, Soho[1]

Dear Lassalle,

I have been staying in the country for the past few weeks in a cottage lent me by a friend[2] who is away in Scotland. That is why I did not get your letter until yesterday. I have, incidentally, taken steps to have my letters forwarded to me immediately from town.

I am, of course, surprised to hear that, despite your proximity to London, you are not thinking of coming over here, if only for a few days. I hope that you will think it over again and discover how short and cheap the journey from Paris to London is. If France's doors were not hermetically closed against me, I would pay you a surprise visit in Paris.

I have several friends in Paris, but I shall not be able to send you their addresses (I am not in town at the moment of writing) until I go to Soho, where I keep them.

Bacon says that really important people have so many relations to nature and the world, so many objects of interest, that they easily get over any loss. I am not one of those important people. The death of my child has shattered me to the very core and I feel the loss as keenly as on the first day. My poor wife is also completely BROKEN DOWN.

If you see Heine again, give him my regards.

Your

K. M.

  1. The letter is written in Camberwell near London but datelined London.
  2. Edgar