MARX TO MAX OPPENHEIM
IN PRAGUE
London, 20 January 1875
Dear Friend,
Excuse the delay in writing. I have been exceptionally busy, for it was not until today that I finished dealing with the translation (French) of the as yet unpublished livraisons[1] of Capital.[2] As soon as the whole thing comes out I shall send it to you, for I have altered a lot and added a lot, especially in the final sections of the French edition.
Your consignment of pheasants and livers arrived in good time and met with a genuinely enthusiastic reception here.
I am not familiar with the Berlin paper[3] about which you wrote to me; however one of my disciples here may be contributing to it, unbeknown to me.[4]
I now have another request to make of you. The doctors have forbidden me to smoke without a cigar-holder. I should therefore like 200 holders for myself and my friends here; they came to my notice in Karlsbad, can be thrown away after every cigar if they no longer seem usable, and are not to be had over here. But bear in mind that this is a commercial commission, the costs of which you must acquaint me with if you carry it out, for otherwise I should feel embarrassed about approaching you in a similar predicament.
My daughter[5] sends you her kindest regards. She corresponds with Mrs Kugelmann and daughter from whom she has recently had letters.
When you next write, would you be so good as to tell me something more about the state of business in Bohemia?
I much look forward to the time when I shall see you here.
Yours very cordially,
Karl Marx
- ↑ instalments
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ The International Gazette
- ↑ In his letter to Marx of 29 December 1874, Max Oppenheim wrote that he was regularly receiving The International Gazette from Berlin. He believed that Marx was the paper's London correspondent.
- ↑ Eleanor Marx