Letter to Laura Lafargue, September 24, 1886

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 24 September 1886


First published, in the language of the original (English), in: F. Engels, P. et L. Lafargue, Correspondance, t. I, Paris, 1956
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 47


ENGELS TO LAURA LAFARGUE

IN PARIS

London, 24 September 1886

My dear Laura,

I suppose you are at this moment at the Assize Court watching Paul's trial,[1] I hope it will end in an acquittal. In the meantime I have a bit of agreeable news for you. Meissner sends this morning account for last seasons sales, and the result is a profit of 2,600 marks or about £130 for us, after deducting all expenses of the second volume[2] ; so your share will be above £40-. I have told him to remit the money, and as soon as received I shall send you a cheque for your share. There were sold 320 copies of Volume I and 1,260 of Volume II.

The English edition[3] will hardly be out before the New Year.[4] It looks as if Sonnenschein had more pressing things on hand, and in the hands of the same printer, by which our book was pushed back. The thing is proceeding, but rather slowly.

I had a letter from Tussy on her arrival in New York,[5] she had a very pleasant voyage, but w.as rather disappointed at the live American bourgeois she met on board, it rather dampened her en- thusiasm for America, but prepared her for the realities of American life.

Old Becker[6] has been with me this last week, he is very jolly but getting rather rickety in body. He will leave for Paris next Tuesday[7] and hopes to see you there.[8] He is a splendid old chap, seventy-eight and still quite abreast of the movement.

No news from Schorlemmer here. How about your journey to Lon- don? You will be able to come to a resolution, if that be still necessary, after to-day's verdict. But even if Paul should be sent to Pélagie again, 4 °2 that is not so pressing, surely they will give him a few weeks leave and so you and he might still come over for a bit.

Ever yours affectionately,

F. Engels

  1. ↑ Engels is referring to the trial of Jules Guesde, Paul Lafargue, Etienne Suisini and Louise Michel for the speeches they had made in the Théâtre du Château-d'Eau on 3 June 1886. The trial took place on 12 August 1886, but Guesde, Lafargue and Suisini refused to appear before the court, so that only Louise Michel was present. All four of them were sentenced to terms of imprisonment between four and six months and fined 100 francs. On 24 September 1886 Guesde, Lafargue and Suisini appealed against the court's decision and all four were acquitted.
  2. ↑ of Capital
  3. ↑ of the first volume of Capital
  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 Interna tional'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. ↑ Like Wilhelm Liebknecht, Eleanor Marx-Aveling and Edward Aveling toured the United States giving lectures and talks at the invitation of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Labor Party (see Note 549). They left Liverpool on 31 August and arrived in New York on 10 September. Their trip was a great success, ending on 25 December. On 4 January 1887 the Avelings returned to London. In early 1887 they gave numerous lectures and talks on the labour movement in the United States to a working-class audience in London.
  6. ↑ Johann Philipp Becker
  7. ↑ 28 September
  8. ↑ From 17 to 28 September 1886 Johann Philipp Becker stayed with Engels in Lon don, and from 29 September to 4 October with the Lafargues in Paris.