Letter to Collet Dobson Collet, March 25, 1857

Author(s)	Karl Marx
Written	25 March 1857

First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXV, Moscow 1929
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 40

MARX TO COLLET DOBSON COLLET

IN LONDON

[Draft] [London,] 25 March 1857

Dear Sir,

Enclosed Chapter V of the diplomatic relations.^[1] The forwarding of the gratification due for the printed contributions would oblige me. Should your time permit, you would oblige me by calling at my house any day except Friday. I have to communicate you some highly important information.^[2]

The illness of Mrs Marx does not allow me seeing you at Ampton-place.

Mr D. Collet

Yours truly

etc.

↑ This refers to a work planned by Marx on the history of-British and Russian diplomacy in the eighteenth century, of which he only completed five chapters of the Introduction. For these he made use of pamphlets, diplomatic documents and unpublished manuscripts, mostly of the period of the Northern War (the Russo-Swedish war of 1700-21), which he found in the British Museum Library. His negotiations with Nikolaus Trübner for publication of the work ended in failure. The chapters of the Introduction appeared by instalments in Urquhart's Sheffield Free Press from late June to early August 1856 as they were sent in by Marx. Eventually publication was stopped because of arbitrary editorial abridgements and printing errors. In June 1856 the London Free Press began reprinting the text from the Sheffield paper, and on 16 August 1856 it started reproducing the chapters from the beginning, with publication continuing until 1 April 1857. In both papers the unfinished work was printed under the title Revelations of the Diplomatic History of the 18th Century (see present edition, Vol. 15). In 1899 Eleanor Aveling, Marx's daughter, published it in London in book form under the heading Secret Diplomatic History of the Eighteenth Century.—46, 56, 73, 81, 94, 110, 112, 120
↑ Here Marx crossed out the words 'respecting Circassia' (a reference to the revealing material on J. Bangya which Marx included in his article 'A Traitor in Circassia').

[1] This refers to a work planned by Marx on the history of-British and Russian diplomacy in the eighteenth century, of which he only completed five chapters of the Introduction. For these he made use of pamphlets, diplomatic documents and unpublished manuscripts, mostly of the period of the Northern War (the Russo-Swedish war of 1700-21), which he found in the British Museum Library. His negotiations with Nikolaus Trübner for publication of the work ended in failure. The chapters of the Introduction appeared by instalments in Urquhart's Sheffield Free Press from late June to early August 1856 as they were sent in by Marx. Eventually publication was stopped because of arbitrary editorial abridgements and printing errors. In June 1856 the London Free Press began reprinting the text from the Sheffield paper, and on 16 August 1856 it started reproducing the chapters from the beginning, with publication continuing until 1 April 1857. In both papers the unfinished work was printed under the title Revelations of the Diplomatic History of the 18th Century (see present edition, Vol. 15). In 1899 Eleanor Aveling, Marx's daughter, published it in London in book form under the heading Secret Diplomatic History of the Eighteenth Century.—46, 56, 73, 81, 94, 110, 112, 120

[2] Here Marx crossed out the words 'respecting Circassia' (a reference to the revealing material on J. Bangya which Marx included in his article 'A Traitor in Circassia').

[1]

[2]