Letter to Friedrich Adolph Sorge, September 6, 1886

Author(s)	Friedrich Engels
Written	6 September 1886

First published in Briefe und Auszüge aus Briefen von Joh. Phil. Becker, Jos. Dietzgen, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx u. A. an F. A. Sorge und Andere, Stuttgart, 1906
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 47

ENGELS TO FRIEDRICH ADOLPH SORGE

IN HOBOKEN

[London,] 6 September 1886

The translation of Capital^[1] is being published by W. Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co., Paternoster Square, London; 23 sheets have already been printed and the whole ms. is in the hands of the printers. Unfortunately I can't find the relevant article anywhere, otherwise I could doubtless have given you further information.^[2]

No doubt you will already have seen Liebknecht before receiving this; he sailed day before yesterday on the Servia.^[3] As soon as I have disposed of the more urgent tasks — that is to say by the end of this week — I shall write you a longer letter.

Your

F.E.

↑ the English translation of the first volume of Capital (see Note 56)
↑ The New Yorker Volkszeitung, No. 200, 21 August 1886 carried an item headed 'Ein Bedürfniß und eine Schmach' expressing surprise at the lack of a complete English translation of Volume I of Capital. It stated that the translation being printed by To-Day (see Note 527) could not meet with the readers' satisfaction since it was being published in numerous short parts. The author of the item described this situation as disgraceful and suggested that the funds for an English edition of Capital might be obtained from some well-to-do Social Democrat.
↑ At the invitation of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Labor Party (see Note 549) Wilhelm Liebknecht took part in a campaign tour of the United States to raise money for the German Social Democrats' election fund. Eleanor Marx-Aveling and Edward Aveling made a trip around the United States at approximately the same time (see Note 601). Liebknecht stayed in Eastbourne with Engels for four days, left Liverpool on 4 September and arrived in New York on 13 September where he met the Avelings. In New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington and other cities he gave talks and lectures on the theory and history of socialism, the state of the workers' movement in Europe and other subjects. This trip, which he completed on 26 November, raised 16,000 marks for the German Social Democrats' election fund. On his way back to Germany, Liebknecht stayed with Engels in London from 5 to 10 December, following which he set off on his way home to Borsdorf near Leipzig.

[1] the English translation of the first volume of Capital (see Note 56)

[2] The New Yorker Volkszeitung, No. 200, 21 August 1886 carried an item headed 'Ein Bedürfniß und eine Schmach' expressing surprise at the lack of a complete English translation of Volume I of Capital. It stated that the translation being printed by To-Day (see Note 527) could not meet with the readers' satisfaction since it was being published in numerous short parts. The author of the item described this situation as disgraceful and suggested that the funds for an English edition of Capital might be obtained from some well-to-do Social Democrat.

[3] At the invitation of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Labor Party (see Note 549) Wilhelm Liebknecht took part in a campaign tour of the United States to raise money for the German Social Democrats' election fund. Eleanor Marx-Aveling and Edward Aveling made a trip around the United States at approximately the same time (see Note 601). Liebknecht stayed in Eastbourne with Engels for four days, left Liverpool on 4 September and arrived in New York on 13 September where he met the Avelings. In New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington and other cities he gave talks and lectures on the theory and history of socialism, the state of the workers' movement in Europe and other subjects. This trip, which he completed on 26 November, raised 16,000 marks for the German Social Democrats' election fund. On his way back to Germany, Liebknecht stayed with Engels in London from 5 to 10 December, following which he set off on his way home to Borsdorf near Leipzig.

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