Letter to Paul Lafargue, April 18, 1884

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 18 April 1884


First published in: F. Engels, P. et L. Lafargue, Correspondance, t. I, Paris, 1956
Translated from the French
Published in English in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 47


ENGELS TO PAUL LAFARGUE

IN PARIS

London, 18 April 1884

My dear Paul,

A quarter to 5 — so must hurry! My congratulations on the success of your Congress,[1] a success that is evident from the different way in which the earlier and later meetings are reported in the Journal de Roubaix. The Germans did right in not sending a delegate, for had they done so it would have unduly facilitated the further retention of the Exceptional Law by the government and the bourgeoisie; the moderates in our party (very numerous among the leaders, very few among the masses, who are first-rate) would have exploited this; such a mistake would have been impermissible. In cases of this kind, demonstrations, even international ones, must be foregone.

When shall I get back the ms. of the translation[2] ? This time you really must try harder, I beg of you. It is essential that the thing should either be done well or not at all. And when will it be possible to begin printing? I ask this so that I can make arrangements to write a few notes and a short preface[3] —if you like you can do a preface and send it to me here. You asked that you be given precedence over the German edition; but I have got a complete ms. of the first part of the latter and the Zurich people will begin printing the moment a manuscript reaches them.

What with this German text and the English Capital to revise,[4] my hands are full, and accordingly I wish to know how to arrange things so as to avoid unnecessary loss of time. For it's essential that I get down to the 2nd volume[5] — and now Zurich has to inform me of the need for a 2nd edition of my Anti-Dühring[6] and a 4th of the Peasant War, which means further revisions and further prefaces to be done! And that's what I — and Mr Bismarck — have gained from the banning of my books in Germany!

Old William[7] is more or less in extremis[8] He no longer recognises those who come to see him, nor can he repeat the phrases he has been taught to say by rote in reply to deputations.

Nim has just come back from shopping, she sends you her amours (LOVES) and as much as you want of them.

Yours ever,

F.E.

Twenty minutes past five.

  1. ↑ a Cartes de visite; small photographic portraits mounted on a card
  2. ↑ of the French translation of Marx's 'On Proudhon'
  3. ↑ for the second French edition of Marx's The Poverty of Philosophy (see Note 165)
  4. ↑ The idea of translating Capital into English occurred to Marx as early as 1865, when he was working on the manuscript (see Marx's letter to Engels of 31 July 1865, present edition, Vol. 42). The British journalist and member of the International's General Council, Peter Fox, was to help Marx find a publisher. However, this matter was not settled due to Fox's death in 1869. The English translation of the first volume of Capital, edited by Engels, did not appear until after Marx's death, in January 1887, and was published by Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co., London. The translation was done by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling between mid-1883 and March 1886. Eleanor Marx-Aveling took part in the preparatory work for the edition (see also this volume, pp. 33 and 127-28).
  5. ↑ of Capital
  6. ↑ The magazine To-Day, No. 4, April 1884, carried the articles by M. Davitt, 'The Irish Social Problem' and P. Lafargue, 'Peasant Proprietary in France'. The newspaper Justice, No. 11, 29 March 1884, reported that To-Day was about to publish Lafargue's article 'On Peasant Proprietary in France' and described the author as 'perhaps the greatest living authority on the French peasantry'.
  7. ↑ William I
  8. ↑ near death