Letter to Jenny Marx, May 10, 1875

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 10 May 1875


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 MARX

IN SHANKLIN

[London,] 10 May 1875

Dear Jenny,

We have all been greatly concerned about your indisposition, but after the CASTOR-OIL and now that the weather is fine, I hope it has passed.

Engels' suggestion that I accompany him to Shanklin suited me quite well in that I thought it expedient to stay there, if only for your sake; but I would not have wished him to delay on my account or, on the other hand, to restrict my freedom of movement, thereby inconveniencing both me and himself. I am awaiting the final PROOF-SHEETS from Paris, you see, and would have no peace of mind if, because of my absence, the unspeakably protracted publication of the final instalments[1] were to be still further protracted. This time I have received two letters in succession from Lachâtre who is presently staying in Vevey (Switzerland). The fool expresses his utmost satisfaction with the dernières livraisons[2] these being, he says, generally comprehensible, i.e. even to him. Of course, I shall not reply to this stuff, any more than to his disgruntled letter from Brussels.

I have sent off the circular (now already in Bracke's possession) on Liebknecht-Hasselmann's concoction; it's a little pamphlet; also given the required information to Mr Schramm in Berlin; finally, made Willebrord unhappy by STRICTLY refusing to collaborate in any way on a journal[3] under the editorship of Messieurs de 'L'Indépendance.[4] I'm sorry for Willebrord's sake, but really, what a nonsensical request.[5]

Here at home everything goes on as usual. It seems to me that the finer weather is doing Jennychen good. To her great satisfaction MOTHER Lormier has subjected Longuet to a merciless criticism of his 'French' furniture RUBBISH. Lafargue's business appears to be getting on all right.[6]

I'm minding the house today, since Lenchen and Tussy have gone into town where they are to meet Jennychen at a furniture auction.

Our little garden is beginning to look quite green and cheerful. Lopatin paid me a surprise visit on Friday.[7] The following Saturday he was already on his way to Hastings where he is to spend a few months. In Paris he found that his lodgings were never for one moment free of Russian visitors, which made it impossible for him to work.

With love,

Your

Karl

Give Madame Lizzy my regards.

  1. ↑ 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).
  2. ↑ last instalments
  3. ↑ Marx's letter has not been found.
  4. ↑ See this volume, p. 73.
  5. ↑ In his letters of 29 March and 25 April 1875, E. Glaser de Willebrord asked Marx to contribute to the socialist weekly La Réforme sociale he was planning to start in Brussels.
  6. ↑ After his withdrawal from the engravers' firm in the summer of 1873 (see Note 11), Lafargue bought a photolithographic and etching workshop in the hope of solving his financial problems.
  7. ↑ 7 May