Letter to Ludwig Kugelmann, October 12, 1877

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 12 October 1877


First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVI, Moscow, 1935
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 45


ENGELS TO LUDWIG KUGELMANN

IN HANOVER

London, 12 October 1877

Dear Kugelmann,

I am writing in great haste (I have a chemist from Mannheim[1] and a university lecturer from Munich staying with me) to inform you as requested that I have received your letter and that, if I have the time and am able to do so, I shall gladly supply Mr Ecker with information as soon as I know more precisely what he wants of me.[2] I doubt if I can be of much help to him, for a perfect working man's dwelling, which on the one hand meets all the sanitary, etc., requirements and on the other won't cost the working man too much, is, as you know, like a triangular square.

We are getting on pretty well here; Marx has been at Neuenahr,[3] for the moment his liver is back to normal, his nerves are better, hence also his nights and, but for his being such a prey to colds, there would be little to complain of. I myself am very well; loafed about a lot during the summer, on top of which there have been numerous visitors, but I think I shall be able to get back to work next week.

Best wishes,

Your

F. Engels

  1. ↑ Probably Philipp Pauli
  2. ↑ In a letter to Engels of 8 October 1877, Ludwig Kugelmann wrote about Karl Ecker, 'the royal Prussian factory inspector' who wished to study the living conditions of British workers. Kugelmann advised Ecker to read the first volume of Marx's Capital and Engels' The Condition of the Working Class in England, and suggested he get in touch with Engels personally.
  3. ↑ Marx, accompanied by his wife and daughter Eleanor, took a course of treatment in Neuenahr (Germany) from 8 August 1877 and returned to London about 27 September.