Letter to Jenny Longuet, between April 20 and 24, 1874

Author(s)	Karl Marx
Written	20 April 1874

First published in Annali, an. 1, Milano, 1958
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 45

MARX TO JENNY LONGUET^[1]

IN LONDON

[Ramsgate, between 20 and 24 April 1874]

Dear Jennychen,

I am sending the épreuves^a today. Please let me have them back after Longuet has looked through them. I shall then make a definitive version of the copy to be sent to Paris.^[2]

Today was the first day I have been able to do even the slightest amount of work. Up to now, despite baths, walks, marvellous air, care with my diet, etc., my condition was even worse than in London. Proof that the matter had reached a crisis point and that it was high time for me to disappear. For the same reason I am delaying my return, for it is absolutely vital for me to be fit for work when I come back. Engels' letter,^[3] saying that he is arriving today, reminds me of one of the reasons, I SUPPOSE, for your not coming. How is your health? I am convinced that a few weeks at the SEASIDE would restore you completely. At present it is in fact more pleasant and soothing than during the actual season.

I hope that my darling Putty^b will still recognise me. Tell Tussychen that the 'SACRED MUSIC'—sacrée musique, as she translated it—was not actually known by this name among the frivolous Parisians, but that what it referred to had come from Italy, where they have always turned the Divine into a comedy, and was known as concerts spirituels¹ in Diderot's day.

Pour la bonne bouche^c Grimm retells the following witticism of the Chevalier de Bouffiers:

'Les princes ont plus besoin d'être divertis qu'adorés; il n'y a que Dieu qui ait un assez grand fonds de gaieté pour ne pas s'ennuyer de tous les hommages qu'on lui rend,^d

Adieu, my darling.

Your

O L D NicK^e

^a proofs (of the French edition of the first volume of Capital) - ^b nickname of Charles, first-born of Jenny Longuet - ^c As a final titbit - ^d 'Princes would rather be distracted than worshipped; only God has a sense of humour great enough to prevent him from being bored by all the homage he receives.' See F. M. Grimm, Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique de Grimm et de Diderot, depuis 1753 jusqu'en 1790, Vol. 7, Paris, 1829, p. 449. - ^e jocular name for Marx

↑ This letter was published in English for the first time in The Letters of Karl Marx, selected and translated with explanatory notes and an introduction by Saul K. Padover, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1979.
↑ A reference to the French edition of the first volume of Capital. An attempt to translate Marx's principal work into French was first made by Charles Keller, a member of the Paris Section of the International. Between October 1869 and April 1870, he translated about 400 pages which he sent to Marx for editing, After the defeat of the Paris Commune, however, Keller was forced to emigrate to Switzerland, where he embraced Bakuninist views, after which Marx terminated co-operation with him.
In December 1871, Paul Lafargue assisted Marx in concluding a contract for the publication of Capital with the progressive French journalist and publisher Maurice Lachâtre. The contract was signed on 15 February 1872. Under it, Capital was to appear in 44 instalments, one printer's sheet each. The work appeared between 1872 and 1875 in two instalments at a time, but was sold in series of five instalments each, making nine series in all.
The last instalments having come out, the series were stitched together and sold as separate books.
The first volume of Capital was translated into French by Joseph Roy. Marx did not think much of the effort and made a vast number of alterations, in fact, revised the book. As he himself said, the authorised French translation had an independent scientific value alongside the German original.
In this edition, the first volume of Capital is published in Engels' authorised English translation with the interpolations from the French edition given in the Appendix (see present edition, Vol. 35).
↑ Engels' letter has not been found.

[1] This letter was published in English for the first time in The Letters of Karl Marx, selected and translated with explanatory notes and an introduction by Saul K. Padover, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1979.

[2] A reference to the French edition of the first volume of Capital. An attempt to translate Marx's principal work into French was first made by Charles Keller, a member of the Paris Section of the International. Between October 1869 and April 1870, he translated about 400 pages which he sent to Marx for editing, After the defeat of the Paris Commune, however, Keller was forced to emigrate to Switzerland, where he embraced Bakuninist views, after which Marx terminated co-operation with him.
In December 1871, Paul Lafargue assisted Marx in concluding a contract for the publication of Capital with the progressive French journalist and publisher Maurice Lachâtre. The contract was signed on 15 February 1872. Under it, Capital was to appear in 44 instalments, one printer's sheet each. The work appeared between 1872 and 1875 in two instalments at a time, but was sold in series of five instalments each, making nine series in all.
The last instalments having come out, the series were stitched together and sold as separate books.
The first volume of Capital was translated into French by Joseph Roy. Marx did not think much of the effort and made a vast number of alterations, in fact, revised the book. As he himself said, the authorised French translation had an independent scientific value alongside the German original.
In this edition, the first volume of Capital is published in Engels' authorised English translation with the interpolations from the French edition given in the Appendix (see present edition, Vol. 35).

[3] Engels' letter has not been found.

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