Letter to Hugo Heller, May 23, 1873

Author(s)	Karl Marx
Written	23 May 1873

Published for the first time. Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 44

MARX TO HUGO HELLER

IN OXFORD

Manchester, 23 May 1873

Dear Friend,

I am staying up here for a day or two, but would rather not put off answering your letter^[1] until my return to London.

I have sent 2/6d in STAMPS for a membership card to a member of the British Federal Council, Serraillier, so that it will, in a few days' time (the Federal Council meets only once a week), be sent to Oxford.

If Thomas, your friend there, would care to write to me direct, I shall be very glad to get in touch with him.

In a week or two the 2nd German edition of Capital, which came out in instalments, will be published in one volume^[2] and I should be pleased to present it to you as a memento, and likewise such instalments of the Paris translation as have so far appeared.^[3]

Madame and MR Longuet have asked me to send you their warm regards.

Salut fraternel.

Karl Marx

↑ A reference to Heller's letter to Marx of 14 May 1873.
↑ A reference to the 'Circulaire à toutes les fédérations de l'Association Internationale des Travailleurs' adopted at Sonvillier on 12 November 1871 (see Note 374). It was printed in La Emancipacion, the organ of the Spanish Federal Council, on 25 December 1871.
↑ The surviving manuscript copy of the letter does not bear the name of the addressee. However, its contents and Marx's correspondence on the subject indicate that it was addressed to the heads of the Lachâtre publishing house in Paris. On 13 February 1872 Marx received a reply from the manager Juste Vernouillet, who informed him about the despatch of copies of the agree ment on the publication of the French translation of Volume I of Capital. The agreement was signed on 15 February by Marx on one side, and Maurice Lachâtre and Juste Vernouillet on the other. It stipulated that the French edi tion was to be published in 44 instalments, and sold five instalments at a time.
The French authorised edition of Volume I of Capital was published between 17 September 1872 and November 1875. The translation was done by Joseph Roy, who began in February 1872 and completed work in late 1873. The quality of the translation largely failed to satisfy Marx; besides, he was convinced that the original needed to be revised to adapt it to French readers.

[1] A reference to Heller's letter to Marx of 14 May 1873.

[2] A reference to the 'Circulaire à toutes les fédérations de l'Association Internationale des Travailleurs' adopted at Sonvillier on 12 November 1871 (see Note 374). It was printed in La Emancipacion, the organ of the Spanish Federal Council, on 25 December 1871.

[3] The surviving manuscript copy of the letter does not bear the name of the addressee. However, its contents and Marx's correspondence on the subject indicate that it was addressed to the heads of the Lachâtre publishing house in Paris. On 13 February 1872 Marx received a reply from the manager Juste Vernouillet, who informed him about the despatch of copies of the agree ment on the publication of the French translation of Volume I of Capital. The agreement was signed on 15 February by Marx on one side, and Maurice Lachâtre and Juste Vernouillet on the other. It stipulated that the French edi tion was to be published in 44 instalments, and sold five instalments at a time.
The French authorised edition of Volume I of Capital was published between 17 September 1872 and November 1875. The translation was done by Joseph Roy, who began in February 1872 and completed work in late 1873. The quality of the translation largely failed to satisfy Marx; besides, he was convinced that the original needed to be revised to adapt it to French readers.

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[2]

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