Letter to Friedrich Engels, May 22, 1854

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 22 May 1854


First published abridged in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 2, Stuttgart, 1913 and in full in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXII, Moscow, 1929
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 39


MARX TO ENGELS[1]

IN MANCHESTER

London, 22 May 1854 28 Dean Street, Soho

Dear Engels,

It was a good thing you didn't come on Saturday.[2] My trouble—now a fortnight old—had come to a head. I could hardly speak and even laughing hurt because of a great festering boil between my nose and mouth, which this morning has at least dwindled to quite reasonable dimensions. My lips, too, which were tremendously swollen, are approximately back to normal again, etc., in short, everything indicates that I shall soon be well again. It's truly devilish, having such a wretched head for a whole fortnight. Beyond a joke. For the past week I've had to give up reading and smoking altogether and today am waiting to see if Freund will allow me to try a cigar.

To compound the misery, all three children[3] have been down with measles since last Friday (Thursday night), which means that the house has become a veritable hospital.

Herewith Cluss. Collapse of the Reform deplorable.[4]

I rely on you to continue doing the American stint for me during the whole of this week since I am totally incapable of writing and have already lost £6 as a result of this wretched business, which is indeed hard to bear. I hope to have a few lines from you in the meantime.

The enclosed letter to be communicated to no one but Lupus. It would seem to be Heise's mission to compromise you in Manchester. Beware of the fellow.

Your

K. M.

  1. ↑ An abridged translation of this letter was first published in The Letters of Karl Marx, selected and translated with explanatory notes and an introduction by Saul K. Padover, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliff, New Jersey, 1979
  2. ↑ 20 May
  3. ↑ Jenny, Laura and Edgar
  4. ↑ In a letter of 30 April 1854 Cluss informed Marx, among other things, that Die Reform ceased publication